


The Kryptonian Historian

by meyari



Category: Smallville
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-11
Updated: 2010-12-11
Packaged: 2017-10-13 15:29:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 104,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/138835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meyari/pseuds/meyari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Some spoilers for all seasons scattered here and there, but not many as this is a very weird AU / future / past fic.  Assume there are bits all over the place, altered in weird ways.  Odd and disconnected with wide jumps through over 2500 years of history.</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Some spoilers for all seasons scattered here and there, but not many as this is a very weird AU / future / past fic. Assume there are bits all over the place, altered in weird ways. Odd and disconnected with wide jumps through over 2500 years of history.

"Welcome, Kal-El, my son," Jor-El intoned as Clark stormed into the Fortress after yet another high-pitched summons squeal.

He'd finally done as Jor-El insisted a year ago, spending months in the Fortress for his training. He'd only been out of the Fortress for a week. The whole time he was undergoing his training, Jor-El had tried to badger him into agreeing to take over the world. It was aggravating. Clark had no intention of submitting to Jor-El's demands, any more than he intended to give into Lex's demands to know everything, Lana's demands that he dedicate his life to her while letting her do whatever she wanted, or his mother's worried fretting that he was taking on too much by going back to school so soon after returning to normal life. He might not be sure what he was going to do with his life, but he certainly knew that he wasn't going to follow Jor-El's plans for him.

"Why do you keep doing this?" Clark demanded, hands in fists. "You know I'm not going to do what you want. You know I'm not going to take over the world. You know there's no way I'll ever turn Earth into a new version of Krypton! Why do you keep dragging me here?"

"You must fulfill your destiny, Kal-El," Jor-El insisted, his bodiless voice revealing a bit of impatience this time. "Your training is complete, but you have not begun to do what must be done."

"I'm not going to!" Clark yelled. "I've told you a thousand times. I'm not going to rule the world, no matter what you do. You can badger me for thousands of years, Jor-El, but I'm never going to do what you want! I love humanity too much to force them to be some sort of pale imitation of Krypton. They have their own destiny to fulfill and I'm not going to destroy them just because you've been programmed by a moron!"

The whole Fortress seemed to vibrate around Clark with Jor-El's anger. Clark didn't care. He was sick of the endless demands, especially after having had a horrible day on the farm, a horrible day at school and failing to save a family from death in a house fire. Jor-El couldn't have picked a worse time to summon Clark if he'd tried.

"Thousands of years?" Jor-El asked, his voice menacing for the first time in years. "If you think that love humanity so much, perhaps you should have the time to get your fill of them."

Light enveloped Clark, different from the light that had covered him during his training. This light tore at him, tore at his clothes, his body. He could feel himself bruising, feel cuts forming on his body. A wild, dangerous light filled the little of the Fortress that he could see, and it terrified him.

"What are you doing?" Clark bellowed, trying to protect his face and shouting as the cuts got deeper, the bruises larger.

"You are immortal, my son," Jor-El said. "I shall give you the time to indulge in your love of humans. May you get your fill of them through this gift. Return to me when you return to the present day and we shall discuss your destiny again."

Clark screamed as the world twisted violently. He thought he'd be sick but he couldn't find his stomach or his stomach couldn't find him—he wasn't sure which. Everything hurt. It took forever and no time at all before he was falling, clothes in tatters, body on fire, mind graying out. He didn't feel the impact with the earth. He'd passed out long before he landed.

+++++

Jor-El waited, watching his son as he slowly flew into the Fortress and approached the control panel. His younger self's departure a few seconds ago had been violent, but his older self did not appear to be upset by it. It was good that he'd learned calm and control during the 2,547 years that he had lived in the past. His son had always been impatient and short-tempered, unfortunately too much like Jor-El himself and not enough like his mother Lara.

"Welcome, my son," Jor-El intoned, the depth of emotion he felt yet again not conveyed by the impersonal voice circuits he was forced to use.

"Father," Kal-El said, smiling slightly.

"You have returned to the Now, Kal-El," Jor-El said, watching his son with all the sensors he had. "Will you now take up your destiny to rule this world and make it what it should be?"

Kal-El chuckled, shaking his head sadly.

"Your programming is so faulty," Kal-El said sadly. "All these eons the AI has been watching me, and yet you can't seem to access and understand what I am. I'm sorry, Jor-El, but you must be excised from the AI's systems. You've got a terrible programming bug and it needs to be fixed or you'll do damage to the world and to me."

He took a crystal out of the pocket of his black leather jacket and set it on the control panel. Jor-El would have gasped if he'd had lungs with which to gasp anymore. He could feel himself being excised, removed from the Fortress' control system. His son was killing him!

"No!" Jor-El protested, trying to fight but finding that the crystal was programmed at defending itself far better than he was. Its attack and defense screens were much superior to Jor-El's, and he was sucked into the crystal, where he had limited sensor capacity, limited programming power, limited everything. "Do not do this!"

He could see Kal-El looking at him with such sorrow in his eyes. He seemed to feel compassion for Jor-El, seemed to be quite aware that he'd done a terrible thing.

"The Fortress will not be undefended while you are being debugged," Kal-El promised, running a finger that was probably gentle over the edge of his crystal. "I have already planned for that, Father. I will not destroy you. You're the last remnant of the man my true Father used to be, but someone has perverted you. As you were downloaded, there was a virus of some sort and you've changed."

"You do not know that," Jor-El declared, wondering if his already mechanical voice had become as tiny as he felt. His new sensors weren't sufficiently precise for him to be sure.

"I do know," Kal-El said, smiling sadly. "I met you before you died, Father, though you had no idea who I was. I met you because I had to know what sort of person you really were. Do you remember the drifter you met when you first arrived on Earth, before you met Louise McCallum in 1961? That was me."

Jor-El rather wished he had a face, a jaw and eyes. His jaw should be dropped and his eyes should be going wide. He did remember. It was an easy thing now that he was a program and not a flesh-and-blood person with an occasionally fallible brain. He could remember a brief encounter with a dark haired drifter just after he'd arrived. The man had been at the caves when he'd come out, apparently eating a sandwich in the woods off of the road. He'd shared the sandwich with Jor-El, asked his name, chuckled at Jor-El's automatic answer with his real name and nicknamed him 'Joe' before standing.

"It's a good thing, being a drifter," the dark haired man had said with a sparkle in green eyes that exactly matched his son Kal-El's eyes. "People see you but they don't really look at you. You're never there long enough for anyone to pay attention, to catch any of the mistakes you might make when you don't quite fit in."

Jor-El compared the gentle, smiling face from his memory with his son's face and realized they were the same. He'd met his son long before he'd been born, before he'd fallen in love with Louise, and later with Lara. He'd met Kal-El long before that first meeting at his birth, and he'd never even known.

"I'll fix you, Father," Kal-El promised. "It will take a while as I need to do a lot of programming, but I will save you."

"Your destiny," Jor-El said, trailing off as he saw the tender, sad expression on his son's face.

"I'm already living it, Father," Kal-El said. "Rest for a while. You're safe and I'll take care of you."

The world faded away, leaving Jor-El floating in a strange sort of nether-place. His son had grown so much, but in such unexpected directions that he had no idea who he had become. He tried to access the records of the AI that had watched over Earth for millennia, to see if he could track what his son had done during his long exile, but they were gone. He wasn't part of the AI anymore. He couldn't access those memories. He no longer knew those things. Whatever his son had done as he plodded through the 929,000 plus days of exile was a mystery to Jor-El. He could only wait and wonder what would happen if he was ever released from his crystal cage.

+++++

Kal groaned, plopping down in the darkest, most hidden corner of his Roman patron Marcus' garden. He thought he was well hidden, screened by a sculpture and a bush and a trailing vine that was climbing the wall beside him. He really couldn't bear to deal with Antonius any longer.

"Why did you do this to me, Jor-El?" Kal whispered, head resting against the stone wall. "Why fling me into the past this way? I know I'm not who you want me to be, but why exile me?"

It was easier to mope about Jor-El's exile than it was to deal with Antonius attempting to prove that he was a better man than Kal. He'd tried to wrestle Kal, but had realized fairly quickly that Kal was letting him win. When he insisted that Kal fight back, he'd realized that it was about like wrestling a mountain. Then he'd tried to beat Kal at throwing spears, fighting, and all his other military skills. Kal still winced at the thought of breaking Antonius' sword on his arm when he'd forgotten he wasn't wearing a shield. Antonius had moved on to 'competing' with Kal for sexual partners, becoming livid as soon as he realized that Kal was basically virginal. Everything that Antonius tried to do to show Kal up had failed and made him look like a bully.

The problem for Kal was that he didn't want to compete with Antonius. He still felt guilty for staying with Marcus. It wasn't his home. It wasn't his place. He was a guest, for all that Marcus liked to think of Kal as a second son. Antonius' resentment of Kal reminded him so much of his Dad's resentment towards Lex that it was almost funny. It didn't matter what Kal did or how he spoke or what he wore. Antonius always took it the wrong way.

"What are you doing here?" Antonius growled at finding Kal sitting in the dark corner of the garden.

"Moping," Kal admitted with a sigh. He'd hoped that this corner was hidden well enough that he wouldn't have to deal with Antonius.

"What." It wasn't a question and the flatness of the tone had Kal blushing violently.

"I'm moping," Kal said, the resentment in his voice clear to his own ears, much less to anyone else's. "I'm tired, Antonius. I know you don't like me. That's obvious. If I had anywhere else to go I would, but I don't. I can't go home. I don't have another place to live, and Marcus keeps saying he wants me to stay. If you really don't want me here, I'll go to Marcus tomorrow and tell him I'm leaving. I don't want to cause trouble in your family."

"Why are you here at all?" Antonius demanded, glaring down at Kal.

Kal shrugged, refusing to meet his eyes after a quick glance at the anger on his face. He really wished he knew what he'd done to upset Antonius. He'd rather be the man's friend than his enemy. He was strong, tall, impressive and kind of reminded Kal of Lex physically. No, he wasn't going to think of Lex, damn it!

"Marcus said I was welcome," Kal said, refusing to acknowledge the tearful quiver in his voice. "I literally have nowhere else to go since my Father threw me out."

"You should go back and beg forgiveness," Antonius snarled.

"I can't," Kal said, shutting his eyes. "It's too far away."

"You can't travel a few miles?"

"I can't fly to the future, Antonius," Kal whispered, heart breaking. "He threw me something like 2000 years into the past. I have to live all the years until I get back to him."

The silence that followed that whisper made Kal think that Antonius hadn't heard him or hadn't understood. So many times when he'd tried to explain to Marcus it had gone straight over his head. Marcus was a wonderful man, but he was so bound by his world-view that what Kal said made no sense. He had to interpret it in terms of Gods and demons and who knew what.

"You're from the future?" Antonius asked in a hushed whisper, kneeling to look at Kal with open interest for the first time.

"Yes," Kal said, nodding. "So far in the future that it might as well be another world."

"You're…immortal."

Kal just nodded, curling in on himself. He didn't have any idea how he was going to cope with 2000 or so years of history. He didn't know how he could avoid changing the past, either. God, he barely knew enough of ancient history to have a clue where he was, much less what might change the past so much that his future didn't exist. He'd run the terror of causing a time paradox around his head so many times over the last couple of years that it felt like there were ruts in his head. It was part of why he was so afraid of venturing outside of Marcus' home. He figured that in here he was safe from causing too much damage.

Antonius sat next to Kal with a sigh that derailed his thoughts entirely. He was frowning up at the sky, watching it turn from pink to purple to velvety black studded with so many more stars than Kal had realized existed. The air was so much clearer now than in the future with all its streetlights that you could see thousands more stars.

"I can't imagine that," Antonius admitted quietly.

"Living so long?"

"No," Antonius said, turning to look at Kal with the same sort of pain in his eyes that Kal felt all the time now, "watching so many generations die around me while I go on living, looking the same. I can't imagine doing that."

"Neither can I," Kal admitted. "That's part of why I hide here, in your father's house. Too afraid of what's to come to deal with the world."

"You cannot hide forever," Antonius said. "Eventually the world will find you."

"I know. Those are the nights I wake up screaming from the nightmares."

+++++

Lex was in his office in Metropolis, working away at paperwork. Kal—no, he was Clark again, he had to remember that—smiled. Gods but he'd missed Lex all these centuries! He sighed at himself. Yet another thing he had to watch, Clark thought with a rueful smile at himself. It wasn't 'gods' anymore. It was 'God', and he'd better remember it. He hadn't thought it would be so hard to go back to being Clark Kent, but he didn't really have much of a choice, now did he?

"Clark Kent to see you, sir," Mercy said, giving Clark a glare that said she'd rip his arms off and beat him with them if he tried anything.

"Clark?" Lex snapped, head flying up to stare at him. The naked shock was immediately replaced by scorn and anger. "Hmm, well, I suppose you can come in since you've come all this way. Come to fling more accusations at me for my business practices, Clark?"

Clark waited until the door shut before walking over to study Lex. He truly did look just like Clark remembered from their last meeting so very long ago—a year and a half for Lex, but so much longer for Clark.

"Well?" Lex bristled at the gaze.

"I missed you so much," Clark said quietly, lovingly, with every bit of the emotion he'd stored up over the last 2,500 years.

"Indeed," Lex said, eyes going flat. "It's been such a long time, after all."

"It has," Clark said sadly. "Two thousand, five hundred, forty-seven years, two months, nine days, and seventeen minutes since I stormed out saying we were no longer friends because you thought you had the right to expect me to be honest with you when I wasn't ready to. Not that I would have ever been ready to if things had gone on that way."

Lex stared at him, face so rigidly controlled that it revealed the emotions raging underneath by its sheer stillness.

"Have you gone mad?" Lex asked quietly. His hand eased towards a drawer in his desk.

"I did for a few hundred years," Clark said with a shrug, "but fortunately I came back to myself before the Huns arrived in Italy. Otherwise it would have gotten ugly. I was guarding my first lover's descendants and I know they wouldn't have listened to me if I'd still been mad. As it was, it was hard to get them to go to Constantinople even though they could see the threat the Huns represented."

"You have gone mad," Lex said, eyes full of speculation now.

Clark laughed, smiling at him.

"Perhaps," Clark said, eyes sparkling with laughter, "but I'm here to tell you everything that you ever wanted to know. Can you pass up the chance to get all the answers you always wanted?"

"Can I believe the answers?" Lex asked, watching him closely.

"I will never lie to you again, Lex," Clark promised. "It took me almost a hundred years to understand it, but I love you. I've loved you from the moment we met. In all these centuries, over more than 900,000 days, you were in my mind every single day. You were the reason that I survived Lex. I've long since forgotten what Mom and Dad look like, how their voices sound. I'll have to go see them later, but I never forgot you."

Lex leaned way back into his office chair with wide eyes.

"I remembered the color of your eyes," Clark said calmly, "the texture of your skin. I remembered the way you smirked at me, the flirting that neither of us admitted was flirting though we both knew. I remembered how we became enemies because neither of us could trust. I remembered every day, every moment we shared. We have a destiny together, Lex. I wouldn't be me if there hadn't been a you."

"Very pretty," Lex said, his mask restored by the time Clark finished.

"Not at all," Clark chuckled, leaning against the corner of the desk. "I mean it quite literally. I would never have protected the Kent and Luthor bloodlines if I hadn't told Antonius all those centuries ago about you. The Kent and Luthor bloodlines diverged about a thousand years ago, but if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been protecting either of them. If I hadn't told him about you, he would never have asked on his deathbed for me to care for his children, and you're descended from him. He was the reason that I followed those families. I'd planned on leaving and wandering the world, interacting with as few people as possible so that I didn't change history. There were so many times I protected them and saved their lives, Lex. If it hadn't been for you meeting me in the Now, I wouldn't have protected your ancestors in the past, and you wouldn't have been born. Jonathan Kent wouldn't have been born either, and I wouldn't exist. There cannot be a me without you."

Lex looked like his head was hurting. Clark couldn't blame him. Time travel was confusing.

"Besides," Clark said tenderly and incredibly sadly, "I wouldn't have mouthed off to Jor-El so badly that he sent me to the past if I hadn't seen what happened to you when you did give into your father's 'destiny'. I'm so sorry I abandoned you, Lex. I let everyone bully me into ignoring how hard you were trying."

"This is real," Lex whispered, eyes full of fear, and hope, and awe.

"Yes."

"Mercy," Lex said to his intercom, "cancel all of my appointments for the day. I'm going home."

"Yes, sir," Mercy said.

"Well," Lex said, studying Clark as he stood and straightened his jacket, "Let's head back to the penthouse and you can start explaining."

+++++

"Kalel, my friend," Marcus asked, his eyes twinkling at Kal as he sat next to him. "You are not brooding yet again, are you?"

Kal sighed, giving Marcus a wry smile. He was brooding, of course. In the four months since he'd been exiled from his home Kalel learned Latin well enough to communicate with Marcus and his slaves, though he still had a horrible accent. Marcus wasn't sure where Kal came from, especially given all his odd talk of 'time travel,' the future, the stars and things that were beyond Marcus, but it was a constant struggle for him to adjust to life in Rome. According to Kal, absolutely everything was different.

"You are," Marcus laughed, ruffling Kal's hair fondly. "Is it the games or sex this time?"

"Sex," Kal admitted with a blush and sigh. "Why they not understand that I not want?"

"You're young, as gorgeous as the Gods themselves," Marcus said, "and as chaste as a temple virgin, Kal. It's freakish. You could have anyone as a lover, from any patrician on down to the lowest slave, and no one would begrudge you."

"Can't," Kal said, making a face.

"Won't," Marcus disagreed, nudging Kal's elbow with his. He chuckled at Kal's blush. "Why you wait is the question that fascinates us all."

"No, can't," Kal insisted. "Don't want to kill."

Marcus raised an eloquent eyebrow at Kal, making him sigh, stand, and go to the great boulder that Marcus had thought of having moved many times. Marcus cocked his head at Kal, puzzled.

"Where you want this go?" Kal asked, picking up the boulder, holding it in one hand and gesturing around the garden.

Marcus gasped, going white as a ghost. He stared at Kal for a long moment, and then pointed at the far end of the garden. Kal nodded, calmly walked over and settled the boulder into its new home. He adjusted it a couple of times before he was satisfied with how it looked. Once he was done, he brushed his hands off on his tunic and came to sit next to Marcus, looking out over the garden quietly. Marcus let out a long slow breath, studying Kal as he sat on the bench next to him. Kal hid a smile behind a raised hand as the old gardener Tidius—he was nearly forty—came out and squawked at the boulder's sudden disappearance.

"That wasn't heavy for you, was it my friend?" Marcus asked gently.

"No," Kal said, "Barely felt it. Same as picking up rock size my fist. Too strong, Marcus. Might kill if I have sex. Couldn't stand doing that."

"Kalel," Marcus said as he put a gentle hand on Kal's shoulder, "you should not deny yourself touch. Even if you have obvious cause to fear sex, there is still massage. It is vital to a man's health to have touch of some sort. You cannot continue to deny yourself this basic need."

"Not going to let go?" Kal groaned.

"No," Marcus said, sure that his face was somewhere between humor, worry and stern disapproval. "I won't."

Later Marcus smiled, watching Kalel sigh happily as Gaius massaged his back. Kalel was odd, a strange mixture of innocence and knowledge. Whatever realm he came from must be very different indeed from the mortal world. It didn't matter to Marcus, of course. His fallen Godling had needs, even if he would not acknowledge them.

"Gaius is so lucky," Mina whimpered from behind Marcus.

Marcus looked and chuckled. Nearly everyone was there, watching. He shooed them all off, not wanting Kalel to tense up and flee when he'd finally gotten him to the point that he'd allow this. The Godling was so shy and so nervous about interacting with people that it was sometimes quite shocking.

"It took four months to get this far, child," Marcus chided. "Off you go, back to work. Leave our boy be."

"Still jealous," Mina huffed as she went back to supervise the kitchens.

When Marcus looked back, Kalel was blushing. He'd obviously heard what they'd said, despite their low tones of voice. Another Godly ability revealed, which Marcus added to his mental catalog of gifts. Marcus kept watching, not only because Kalel's body fascinated him—he freely admitted to that—but also because while Marcus watched, no one else would. It was the least he could do for his young friend.

+++++

Lex let Clark into his penthouse, decidedly uneasy about this whole situation. Clark had disappeared utterly after their last encounter. His parents would only say that he was traveling around the world, but Lex had never found a single ticket to show that he'd gone anywhere. He had disappeared right after the meteor shower, not staying long enough to help Chloe get back to Smallville from Canada, or to help his parents rebuild their farm, which was very out of character for the Clark he knew. Clark had always been extraordinary, doing things that Lex knew were far beyond human ability, but he would never have expected to have him show up out of nowhere claiming to be 2,500 years old after a year and a half absence.

"Wow," Clark said, going to the window, "you have a wonderful view of the city."

"Yes, it's my favorite thing about this penthouse," Lex said, getting a brandy and looking at Clark. "Did you want one?"

"Hmm?" Clark glanced over, seemed to consider it, and then shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm supposed to go back to pretending to be under age, so I'll just have water. If you still have bottled water, that is."

"You could have stayed away a little longer and not needed to 'pretend'," Lex said, giving Clark one of the bottles.

"And miss the chance to exchange pointed barbs with you?" Clark said, grinning. "No way. I've been waiting for this conversation too long to let it go any longer, especially for something as trivial as a drink of brandy. A good red wine, certainly, but brandy, no thanks. Not my thing."

Lex felt his control over the situation sliding again and he turned, going to the couch. He claimed the left side of it, sitting in it like it was a throne. He needed the impression of control, needed it badly while dealing with this altered Clark.

"I wasn't aware that you were a wine fancier," Lex said warily, sipping his brandy.

"Oh, I wasn't until I'd been in Rome for about 75 years," Clark said sitting on the opposite side of the couch. He kicked off his shoes and curled up as comfortably as if it was his own couch, one leg tucked under, turned sideways to study Lex with a loving expression. "Rome will make you into a wine lover, as will France. I spent a couple hundred years in France. Wonderful place, especially back then."

"How did you end up in Rome?" Lex asked, humoring Clark. "What happened to you?"

Clark sighed, sipping at his bottle of water, lips pursed and tongue just flirting with the opening of the bottle. Lex had to bite his tongue. Damn, Clark had no idea what he did to Lex when he did that. He looked into Clark's eyes and started cursing. He knew exactly what that was doing to Lex!

"You do realize I always knew that was a seduction method, don't you?" Clark said, smiling at Lex.

"Just get on with your crazy story!" Lex snarled, huffing at him. He was not blushing. Lex Luthor did not blush, damn it, not even when he was listening to Clark chuckle in that entirely too sexy way.

"On October 16th, 1989," Clark began, once again throwing Lex for a loop, "there was a meteor shower in Smallville, Kansas. The meteors changed a lot of people, including a small boy named Lex Luthor. In the middle of that meteor shower was a very small spaceship that had a very small boy inside of it."

Lex felt like his blood had just turned to ice in his veins. He couldn't believe what Clark was saying. This could not be happening! He quite deliberately took a sip of his brandy to try to portray a level of calm he didn't feel, but the glass was shaking slightly against his lips. He had no doubt that Clark knew he was affecting Lex. It showed in his eyes.

"The little boy in the spaceship was named Kal-El," Clark said calmly. "He had been sent by his parents, Jor-El and Lara, to escape the destruction of their world. A few other stragglers survived the destruction, but only a handful. The vast majority of those stragglers were criminals, unfortunately. The majority of their race didn't believe that Krypton was being destroyed. They thought they could fix it, deal with it, stop it, but it was too late."

Clark sighed, looking so sad and regretful. Lex wasn't sure if he should believe it, but every instinct he had was saying that Clark was telling the truth. This was his origin, this was how he truly felt, and this was what Lex had always wanted to know.

"Their disbelief wasn't very surprising," Clark said with a sad little laugh. "The Kryptonians were always a very prideful and arrogant race, convinced of their superiority over everyone and everything. Hubris appears to be a normal Kryptonian trait. At any rate, Kal was rather traumatized by the crash and developed a fear of heights. When he got out of his spaceship, he found two people in a truck that had been overturned. They were Jonathan and Martha Kent, though he wouldn't learn that for a while. They had always wanted a child and here was a beautiful little boy. And his spaceship."

"That must have been a shock," Lex said, voice shaking far more than he'd expected it to when he opened his mouth.

"Oh I'm sure it was!" Clark laughed, taking a swig of water. "So they borrowed a dead neighbor's truck, put the spaceship in the back, and were driving home with their new son when they were stopped along the way by Lionel Luthor, whose little boy was hurt and needed to go to the hospital."

"Oh my god," Lex said, eyes going wide.

"Lionel got a ride to the hospital," Clark said, continuing relentlessly with things that Lex suddenly decided he actually didn't want to know, "and said that he'd do anything to repay the favor they'd done for him by saving his only son. Jonathan and Martha eventually asked him to help them forge adoption papers for little Clark, which—"

"Lionel then held over them," Lex groaned, head going back against the back of the couch. "He used it to blackmail Jonathan into convincing his friend to sell the factory!"

"Exactly," Clark said with a sad sigh. "And that's why Dad always hated you. If you hadn't needed to go to the hospital, he wouldn't have had to give Lionel a ride, and wouldn't have asked for help with my adoption papers, and all the rest wouldn't have happened."

"That doesn't explain what happened to you," Lex said, "or where you disappeared to."

Clark grinned, nodding. He seemed perfectly prepared to keep talking forever, which Lex still couldn't quite believe.

"Well, it's always good to start a story at the beginning, you know," Clark said cockily. "And most of the rest of it wouldn't make sense without that beginning."

"Where-did-you-go?" Lex asked, enunciating every word carefully and glaring at him.

"Well, once I united the crystals," Clark said laughing, "the Fortress of Solitude was born. I went off to do my training as Jor-El demanded. That took about a year and a half, after which he demanded that I take over the world and I refused, so he sent me into the past."

"Wait, I thought your real father died," Lex said, confused. "How could he be making demands? Where is this Fortress? How did the crystals being united create it? What happened?"

Clark laughed, delighted at confusing him. He sipped the water, not seductively this time, and shook a finger at Lex.

"Now, see what happens when you rush the story," Clark said. "It gets all tangled and confusing."

"All right," Lex groaned, sipping his brandy and resolving not to have any more until he got more answers, "tell it your way. Just get on with it. I want to know what happened."

+++++

"Why did you take me in?" Kal asked almost a full year and a half after he'd first fallen from the future. "There was no reason for you to do so. Anyone else would have left me to die, or sold me into slavery, Marcus."

Marcus smiled at Kal, eyes crinkling with amusement. The older man seemed endlessly amused by Kal's questions and delighted in answering them. In some of ways, he reminded Kal of Lex. He immediately banished Lex from his mind. He wasn't going to think of home, Mom, Dad, or most especially Lex. If he did, he'd fall back into another deep funk and that always worried Marcus.

"I saw you fall from the heavens, Kalel," Marcus said calmly. "I saw you cast out from Olympus to live among mortals. I know not what you did to be exiled from Heaven, but how could I not help one such as you? Helping you to learn of the mortal world and humanity is a noble thing."

"I'm not a god, Marcus," Kal protested, blushing violently at the very idea.

"You may not call yourself a god, my friend," Marcus said, "but you are obviously not a human like us. We are blessed by your presence, and grateful for the time we get to spend with you. You are kind, gentle, loving and beautiful, Kalel. Whatever you truly are, no one who has met you regrets having done so."

Clark smiled, blushing faintly. Marcus was always so kind, but his praise still seemed too much to Clark. He wasn't that good. Marcus had no idea what sort of person he really was. Unfortunately, Clark didn't seem able to convey to his friend the truth. His view of the world would allow people falling from the sky and living, but it didn't allow for aliens from other worlds, or travel from the future.

"I heard Mina talking about your son," Clark said to change the subject. "Where has he been all this time?"

"He is serving in the Legions," Marcus said rather sadly. "I never wanted him to join, but my son has a mind of his own. He decided that he had to find his own path in life, and the Legions seemed the best to him. He's been gone for nearly four years now. He's risen quite high in rank, but the last message I received said that he's decided its time to come home."

"What's he like?" Clark asked, half out of pure curiosity about his friend's son and half out of worry that the man would decide to kick Clark out of his home. He was an intruder after all.

"He is brilliant," Marcus said proudly, "short-tempered, inquisitive, strong-willed, and haughty. He cannot see a problem without being driven to solve it, and he cannot see another man without deciding to compete with or dominate him. You are going to be such a trouble for him, my friend."

"Um, will it be okay?" Clark asked, a little worried.

"It shall be," Marcus said, grinning. "Antonius may have some issues with your presence at first, but I know that he will be a good friend to you eventually. Give him time. He resents change, especially when it comes to his home and family."

"Oh, um, if you think it's all right," Clark said hesitantly.

"I'm quite looking forward to him coming home," Marcus said with a wicked grin. "He's needed to encounter someone he could not defeat and could not dominate for quite some time."

+++++

Antonius strode into the family home, furious at what he'd just discovered. It wasn't enough that his father had to be blatantly against Antonius' choice of career, he had to take in some interloper as a replacement for him while Antonius was gone.

"Father!" Antonius shouted, glaring at him as he stomped into the gardens at the heart of the house. "Where is this stranger you've invited in off of the streets?"

"Right there," Marcus said, raising an eyebrow and gesturing towards…the most gorgeous male that Antonius had ever seen.

Tall, Gods, how tall the man was, with glossy dark hair, beautiful lips, a body that put the Gods to shame, and green eyes that looked almost ashamed. In any other place, Antonius would immediately have started seducing him, just for the pleasure of bedding such a gorgeous man, but that wasn't happening this time. Antonius steeled himself against the man's charms. He was not going to allow him to stay, not now that Antonius was home again. It wasn't until he looked down at the man's feet that he realized that he was playing with the cook's baby, helping it walk by letting it hold his fingers.

"This is Kalel, my son," Marcus said, smirking at him. "Kalel, this is my son Antonius."

"Pleased to meet you," Kalel said, bobbing his head as if he were a slave, though he was wearing clothes as fine as Marcus'.

Antonius could feel his jaw tightening up. This person did not belong here. He did not belong in Antonius' home, never mind that it was his father's home. Eventually it would be Antonius' home, and this Kalel would not be in it when that time inevitably came. He refused to let himself entertain the fantasy of keeping him here as his lover. He was an interloper and had to go.

+++++

"So," Clark said, still grinning cheekily at Lex, "You and your dad went off to Metropolis, you to be abused and ignored by your father. I was raised by the Kents, who…had their own form of abuse."

"Excuse me?" Lex said, appalled. "I thought you had the perfect family!"

Clark snorted, shaking his head. Lex would never have expected to see that dark and cynical of an expression on Clark's face, especially not when he was talking about his parents.

"Not even close," Clark sighed. "We always had our issues. If you encountered any other family where the parents strictly forbid the child from interacting with other kids, didn't allow him to participate with after school activities, didn't allow people into the house, didn't allow him to discuss their home life, how he was doing, or anything personal, what would you think? Especially if the kid is nervous, shy, skittish about touching others, and unable to interact with others in a normal, functional way."

"Child abuse," Lex said grimly. "Which I know didn't happen to you."

"Are you sure?" Clark said, raising an eyebrow. "Lex, it's abusive to take a child and subject him to that sort of secrecy, even when there's a damn good reason for it. Yes, my parents loved me, but I was raised with such dedication to complete secrecy that I literally was afraid to talk to people. I was lonely, afraid, and always believed that there was something wrong with me, no matter what Mom and Dad said. That's mental abuse."

Lex swallowed, feeling almost ill. This was yet another thing he really didn't want to know. Clark kept talking, not stopping as he kept delivering truths Lex didn't think he wanted.

"So," Clark said, "you have a young man who's convinced there's something desperately wrong with him, who's terrified—literally phobic—of telling anyone, and who has virtually no friends. Then when he's fourteen, he's on a bridge and this bald guy runs into him with a car."

Lex laughed, surprised.

"I told you that you missed me," Clark said, "but you didn't. You hit me square on, and took me off the bridge with you. I tore open the roof of your car because I panicked and didn't do what any sane person would do and break the car window."

Lex laughed harder, grinning at him. This was something he knew perfectly well.

"All right, so you finally admitted the blatantly obvious," Lex said with a smirk. "What happened next?"

"I went home with Dad, thought about what happened, and as Dad was using the chipper to grind up some brush," Clark said, "I demanded to know what the heck I was. He said I was worried about nothing. I shoved my fist into the chipper. I came out fine. The chipper needed major repairs."

"Good lord," Lex said, surprised.

"This led to my parents explaining how they'd found me," Clark said with a tired sigh, "and finally, twelve years later, showing me the spaceship I arrived in. I never knew what I was, Lex. I didn't know until you hit me that I was anything other than a meteor freak with extra powers. They were so serious about the secret that they didn't tell me."

Lex huffed, offended for Clark. To grow up that way, knowing you were different but having no clue why must have been horrible! He'd always known he was different, and always known that the meteors were the reason for it, and that had been hard enough.

"So," Clark said, derailing Lex's mental rant at Jonathan and Martha Kent, "I found out I was an alien and then a while later you found a small octagonal disk made of a metal not found on Earth. I ended up stealing it because it was the missing key to my spaceship."

"Good God," Lex said, astonished.

"You know all the normal nuttiness that happened in Smallville," Clark said, shrugging, "so I'll focus on the parts you don't know. The key opened my spaceship and triggered the AI living in it. It was a download of my birth father, Jor-El. Unfortunately, it was a thoroughly virus-infected download, which completely changed its personality from a kind, intelligent scientist to a power-mad dictator bent on ruling the world. It demanded that I submit to training and take over the world just about a week before you got married to Helen. The Kawatche Caves?"

"Yes?" Lex asked warily.

"They were the mainframe for the AI and Jor-El," Clark said, stopping Lex's heart again. "The spaceship was more like a remote terminal, though I didn't realize it for, oh, centuries. So, while the spaceship was making demands, your dad was busily trying to force his secrets out of the caves. He made a refined kryptonite key that might just have destroyed the AI for real if I'd let him use it. I stole it with Pete's help and put it into the spaceship, which blew it up."

Lex nodded slowly.

"That's why you weren't at my wedding," Lex said, "and that's where the crater came from."

"Exactly," Clark said with a nod. "However, I'd been branded by Jor-El for defying him and as the spaceship was only a remote terminal for the AI, I was still subject to his interference. The explosion flipped my parent's truck as they were coming back from the wedding, and that caused Mom to miscarry."

"She was pregnant?" Lex asked, astonished. He hadn't known that.

"Yes," Clark said, looking so sad that it almost hurt to see. "Long story short, Dad blamed me for it while I was in shock and I ran away to Metropolis, high on red kryptonite, which somewhat blocked my Jor-El's telepathic demands that I submit to my destiny. While you were gone, I got wilder and wilder, until Dad went to the Caves and bargained with Jor-El to get the power to stop me. We fought, he won, I lost the red K ring and came home, but not until after Morgan Edge got interested in me. Dad ended up with a weak heart, Morgan Edge ended up with a new face, and your father wiped your memory of his crimes through drugs and electroshock therapy."

"What exactly did he wipe out?" Lex asked warily.

At this point he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Everything that he was finding seemed to complicate his understanding of Clark, making it impossible to be sure he knew whom he was dealing with. Worse, it was changing how he viewed himself and the world.

"He destroyed the discovery that you'd made that your father had killed your grandparents with the help of Morgan Edge," Clark said sadly. "I was a coward and didn't try to rescue you from there until too late. By the time I fought my way through the meteor freaks in Belle Reve, it was too late. The electroshock therapy was already done. Afterwards, I was so afraid of Lionel killing you outright that I didn't dare tell you what you'd lost. Besides, you'd seen what I was and I literally was phobic of being discovered, Lex. The thought that you might remember what I was panicked me. A lot of my inexplicable behavior over the next couple of years goes back to that phobia. There's nothing like being convinced that if you ever tell anyone that you're going to end up strapped to a lab table being dissected while you're awake to make you resist all questioning."

"I still found out in the end," Lex said, annoyed.

"True," Clark said, nodding agreement, "but by the time you found out, you had the pieces in place to take power away from your father and make the conviction stick. If you'd found out at the time, I'm positive that you would have ended up dead. I was watching and interacting with Lionel as my other identity, so I'm fairly sure I'm right on that point."

"Other identity?" Lex asked, straightening up. "What other identity?"

+++++

Antonius sighed happily, curled against his Godling's side. The night in the garden when Kalel had admitted his immortality and fear had been a turning point for Antonius. He had finally seen beyond the perfect exterior to the exceedingly flawed young man hidden inside. It had taken nearly a year for Antonius to seduce Kalel, flirting with him as gently as if he were a young maiden, teasing little bits and pieces of his past life out of him. The world he knew as so very different from Antonius' world. It was no wonder that the boy was constantly frightened.

It had taken weeks for Antonius to come to understand Kalel's fear of changing things so much that he wasn't born, but their endless arguments about it finally reached a resolution the night that Antonius had taken Kalel's face in his hands and simply kissed the boy into silence. Antonius couldn't silence Kalel's worries with a sound beating, the way Marcus had done for Antonius when he was young and foolish, but a solid kissing, and then many months later, a solid fucking had done much the same thing, far more pleasurably. Much to his pleasure, Kalel no longer seemed reluctant to have sex with Antonius, even when he was 'moody'.

"It is odd to think that each star is a sun like ours," Antonius said, petting Kalel's stomach and smiling at the way his lover moaned. "That your people live around another star and your father would send you all the way here for punishment. It's…mind-bending, in an almost physical way. I wish I could see that star of yours, Kalel."

"Come on," Kalel said with a grin, pulling Antonius to his feet. It was the middle of the night, and they were both nude, but Antonius didn't care. There was no one else up at this time of night, though of course they would wake some of the slaves by walking about.

"Where are we going, my friend?" Antonius asked, voice rich with amusement that Kal didn't immediately pull on a toga. He was finally learning to relax about nudity.

"See that star there?" Kalel said, helping Antonius find the right one, in the constellation that looked like a wolf. "That's where my people come from, Antonius."

"That's where you came from?" Antonius' astonishment was almost painful. He hadn't thought that Kalel would be able to show him the star.

"Sort of," Kalel said sadly. "It's where my people are from. I'll never see that world, Antonius. Not now or in the future. I'll never walk in my parent's garden the way we're walking in your father's garden. You see, something like two thousand years from now, that world dies. My father, Jor-El, will create a…a ship, a ship designed to carry only one occupant, his infant son. That son will be sent from that world to this world. He'll grow up among humans, not knowing what he is, or where he came from, until he's a teenager. Then he'll find out, he'll fight his father's destiny and eventually he'll be sent back in time."

Antonius sighed as Kal wrapped his arms around him. His young lover sighed as well, both of them studying that far away star. Kal had such a long ways to go before he could go home. Antonius understood that journey in small a way, from his time among the Legions.

"Kal," Antonius said seriously, "we need to make plans. You cannot rely on chance and the Gods. My father shall die, and eventually I shall die, too. We must make plans so that you are not adrift during all the centuries until you can return home."

+++++

"Sir," Raul said in Italian, which meant that there was something up, "you have a visitor. A Mr. Bruce Wayne and his…secretary."

Kal raised an eyebrow and 'peeked' into the other room, smirking to see a seventeen-year-old Lex Luthor pretending to be his best friend Bruce Wayne's secretary. Bruce was managing to look calm and collected, though Kal's hearing could pick up the way his heart was pounding and his stomach was churning. He supposed that even for someone like Bruce meeting a major industrialist from Italy was nerve-wracking. He hadn't seen Bruce since his parent's funeral, but that hardly mattered. The connection existed, and clearly Lex was trying to use it to get at Kal, or more accurately his other identity as Antonio.

"Please show Mr. Wayne in," Kal said, using his best Antonio Marcellus manners. "His secretary will have to wait outside, but I'd be delighted to see Mr. Wayne. I haven't seen him since he was very small."

Raul's lips flicked into a quick smile and his eyes danced with amusement before he put on his perfectly calm Butler-face. Raul had known about Kal since he was eleven years old, and had been Kal's servant since he was fourteen. Kal trusted him utterly. Without his help, the things he had to do to play his roles as Antonio and David Marcellus wouldn't be possible. Raul knew perfectly well that Kal couldn't meet Lex, not for several years yet. Even being this close was tempting fate as far as Kal was concerned. He smiled as Raul escorted Bruce in, with Lex all but vibrating in the background, upset that he couldn't go in.

"My dear Bruce," Kal said in a heavy Italian accent, "it is so good to see you! You probably do not remember me. I met you when you were but a wee boy. My, you have grown up to be such a fine man!"

"Thank you, Mr. Marcellus," Bruce said, blushing ever so faintly and looking mildly embarrassed. "I do remember you. You visited my father on several occasions before his death, and you were there for the funeral."

"He was a fine man," Kal said, patting Bruce's shoulder, "a good man, and I know that he would be proud of you. Please, call me Tony. Is this a social visit or was there something that I could help you with, son of my old friend?"

Bruce almost swayed at being told that his father would be proud of him, which Kal had rather expected. He had been met Thomas and Martha Wayne and become friends with them, initially because of the Marcellus family's 'inherited genetic disease' but then stayed friends because they were good people. He truly did believe that Thomas would be proud of Bruce, proud of the young man standing in front of him with his heart in his eyes. He would obviously never follow his father's path into medicine, but Kal could see that Bruce would do great things.

"Actually," Bruce said, mastering his emotions with far too much skill for a boy of eighteen years, "I was here for my friend, Alexander Luthor. He was hoping to meet you and talk to you about acquiring one of your properties."

"Ah!" Kal said, grinning at Bruce. "You must be referring to my son's pet project, Pioneer Astrophysics."

"Yes," Bruce said, lips quirking in a quick smile. "He's quite interested in buying it."

"As is his father, Lionel," Kal said, chuckling and getting himself a small glass of red wine. "I am sorry to disappoint you and your friend, but I cannot sell that property. It is my son David's pet project, his, how do you say, his 'thing'. He lives for that project, for getting into space, for having humanity explore the wider universe. If I were to sell it, I fear that he would not do well, and with his health issues, I will not risk it."

"Health issues?" Bruce asked, frowning. "I wasn't aware that your son had any health issues."

"Oh, of course," Kal said, sighing and leaning against the table to look at Bruce over his glass of wine. "There is the hereditary disease my family shares. That is how I met your father, you know. He was researching such things and wished to help. He never did find a cure, though some of his treatments do help. I am nearly forty, after all! I never expected to live to see my son reach sixteen, and in a few weeks he will be seventeen. It is a miracle, truly a miracle!"

Bruce opened his mouth, eyes troubled, shut it and then cocked his head at Kal, confused.

"Mr.…excuse me, Tony," Bruce said, "What are you talking about?"

"Your butler Alfredo did not tell you?" Kal asked, blinking and raising an eyebrow at him. "My family has an inherited genetic defect. We die before we reach the age of forty. Most of my relatives died before they reached thirty-five, so I count myself to be very lucky. My father died when I was but thirteen."

Bruce's mouth made a perfect 'O' and his eyes went wide. Kal nodded sadly.

"My son has always been nervous," Kal said, sipping his wine, "and he never took his inevitable early death well. He is profoundly agoraphobic, and will not step outside the house for anything other than his Pioneer Astrophysics meetings. Even then, he must take tranquilizers to be able to cope with his phobia. I could never sell that branch of my company, because I know what it would do to my son."

Bruce winced, sighing. He glanced back at the door apologetically, and then turned back to Kal.

"I knew that you were working with my father," Bruce said, "but I never knew what it was about. It seemed rather secretive."

"Mildly," Kal said, shrugging. "Your father always took doctor-patient confidentiality quite seriously, though I have never objected to telling people of my family's defect. Unfortunately, it does not seem to be a problem that can be cured. It simply is as it is. I rather doubt that it shall be an issue for my son's children. He is…shall we say, not a fan of the ladies?"

He chuckled as Bruce turned decidedly pink.

"It does not matter to me," Kal said. "I thought very hard about not having any children at all, but I fell in love and well, I would not give up my son for anything in the world. I suspect that David shall be the last of the Marcellus line, though you never know. My brother was supposed to have fathered a little bastard somewhere in America but I have never been able to find him. We suspect that he was adopted, but have had no luck in tracking him down."

"Really?" Bruce said, eyes bright with curiosity now. "How old would he be?"

"We think he would be about ten or eleven now," Kal said, thinking of his younger self playing in Kansas. "I hope that we do find him someday, but it will have to be my son who discovers him, not me. I have no doubt that I shall be dead within a year or two at the most."

He waved a hand at Bruce's stricken expression.

"Oh, do not make such a face, my young friend," Kal laughed. "I have had years longer than I expected, due to your father's excellent work. I am content with what I have accomplished, content with my life. When it is my time, I shall go happily. I truly believe that no matter how short or long a life is, if you have lived every day to its fullest, you can go to God with peace."

Bruce made the sort of polite smile that said he completely disagreed with Kal, but wasn't going to say it out loud. They chatted for a little while longer, and when Kal had finished his glass of wine, Bruce made his excuses and left. Kal watched the two young men leave through the window, heart aching to hold Lex. It wasn't time. He was too young and had too many things to live through first. This wasn't his Lex yet, and Kal wouldn't risk loosing that 'first' meeting at the river.

"He's quite attractive," Raul said in Italian quietly at Kal's elbow. "I can see why you've waited all these centuries to get back to him."

"He is my heart and soul," Kal replied. "I've waited all this time. I can wait a few more years. I did plant the seed of Clark Kent being my illegitimate nephew. We should keep working quietly on that. I'll need to have things in place in about twelve years for the Marcellus fortune to go to Clark."

"I've been working steadily at it," Raul said, patting Kal's back. "Don't worry. When the time comes, everything will be in place for your plans."

+++++

"Uncle!" Beatrice called, running up to Kal as he closed the doors on the forge. "Uncle, there are strangers who want to talk to you at home."

"Strangers?" Kal asked her, picking her up in one arm. He was pretty much done with his work at the forge, so he could head home now. With the Huns on their way to attack the walls of Constantinople, his work as a smith had become a lot more serious.

"Mmm-hmm," Beatrice said, nodding firmly. "They're as tall as you and talk funny. They said they came from your home country of Kip-ton to see you."

"Did they now?" Kal said, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I'll just have to hurry home and see them. You run on home and tell your mother I'll be right back. I need to wash up first or she won't let me in the house."

Beatrice giggled, nodding as she wrinkled her nose at him.

"You are smelly, Uncle," Beatrice said, giving him a hug and kiss anyway. "See you soon!"

She ran off home, brown hair flying. Kal used some fresh water and rinsed off the sweat from forging swords and arrow heads, tied back his hair, and pulled on his clean(er) tunic. He made sure everything was secured, and then headed home. It wasn't the job he'd wanted to do, making weapons, but he wasn't going to let his family die, not after tending to them for over 500 years. The Huns were coming, war was inevitable, and so he'd do his part to help save the people he'd come to love.

The family's house was well inside of the city's new walls. Those feats of engineering had just been finished. There was little likelihood of the Huns actually breaking through, but that didn't matter to Kal. There would be attacks, and his family's sons would fight. He'd never deny them the right to follow in their own paths, even if it led them into dangerous situations or even to death. The rest of the family would be safe inside though, as safe as he could make them. Maybe after the Huns were repelled he could convince them to move to the Holy Land. It would be better there for a while, at least until Mohammad began his new religion. No one place would be safe for all the centuries until he got home, but he'd do his best to keep them as safe as possible.

"Uncle Kal," Beatrice's mother Agatha said as Kal came in. "You have guests. They're out in the garden waiting for you."

"Thank you, my dear," Kal said, kissing her cheek and getting a wary smile. "I'll deal with it. Don't worry, it will be all right. They come and check on me every 50 to 100 years or so. They're a little overdue. I expected a visit about twenty years ago."

She laughed, reassured. Kal headed out into the small garden. His Kryptonian visitors looked as uncomfortable as possible, too tall, too strong, too clean, and too alien. It was so painfully obvious that they didn't belong here, Kal thought. No wonder everyone always knew he was different. He was too perfect, just as they were too perfect.

"Welcome," Kal said, going to them with a smile.

"You are the Historian?" the taller, dark-hair male asked, frowning.

"I am," Kal said, nodding. "You are?"

"Ah, my apologies," he said, bowing slightly. "I am Al-Dar and this is my associate Dar-Kel. We had not expected to find you in a place such as this."

He looked around the little garden as if it was a trash heap. Kal had to suppress a smile. His people were such asses. If it wasn't Kryptonian, then it was garbage and to be scorned. He had yet to meet a Kryptonian who wasn't 100% convinced of their complete superiority over humanity. He had to wonder what had gone wrong with him, that he saw humans as so much superior over his own race.

"It is rather nice," Kal agreed, enjoying their surprise. "I'm a smith in this time and place, and make more than most people do, especially with war coming. My 'nephews' are in the military so we're able to get better homes than most."

"This is better?" Dar-Kel asked, eyes wide. He was shorter, blond, and quite a bit younger.

"Considerably," Kal chuckled. "We have our own garden. That's quite special for a city like this. Now, what can I do for you, gentlemen? You wouldn't have come all this way for nothing."

They both looked relieved to be off of the small talk and onto the meat of the discussion. Kal had found during nearly all of his encounters with other Kryptonians that they seemed almost pathologically incapable of small talk.

"We have come to bring you back to Krypton," Al-Dar said firmly. "You have been stationed on this planet for far too long. You must return home."

Kal groaned, rubbing his forehead. Not again!

"Gentlemen," Kal said, sighing, "have you checked with the Archive? There are reasons that I am not allowed on Krypton. This was not a voluntary posting."

"No matter the reasons that previous governments may have had—" Al-Dar started to say, only to be cut off by Kal's wave.

"Check with the Archive," Kal commanded, making both of them bristle.

Al-Dar snorted and did, his eyes going wide as he read the entries about Kal. He still shook his head at it all, not accepting it. He was going to be one of the stubborn ones, Kal saw. He'd made up his mind and nothing was allowed to change it. At least Dar-Kel was accepting it. He looked awed, not like he refused to believe it.

"Check the date on my exile," Kal said, giving Al-Dar a stern look. "That's the part you need to pay the most attention to."

"This…this can't be!" Al-Dar gasped, going pale.

"I was not exiled in the past, Al-Dar," Kal said, confirming it. "I was exiled in the future and sent to the past. Every couple of hundred years I have to have this conversation with people from Krypton. I am not allowed on Krypton. I was sent here for my punishment and must live here until I return to my proper time. I am not allowed there so that I will not interfere with the time stream on Krypton."

"What did you do?" Dar-Kel asked, horrified.

"I'm not allowed to discuss it," Kal said with a shrug. "I will not do anything that will jeopardize my return home. I must fulfill my punishment or I will never be allowed to go home."

"This isn't possible," Al-Dar insisted, staring at the date. "We do not have the technology to send someone into the past, not that far!"

"Not now you don't," Kal said, nodding agreement. "But in 1500 years, you do. We do. Not that it's a common punishment. In fact, as far as I can tell, it's unique. I am part of the history of this world up until my return to the time of my exile, gentlemen. I cannot go to Krypton without altering the future, my past. I cannot leave Earth. I must stay here and I must fulfill my destiny. I appreciate your concern for me, but I cannot allow that concern to destroy everything."

Al-Dar shuddered, shutting off his little access crystal. He looked almost ill as he gazed everywhere except at Kal. The neat little garden with it's high stone walls holding grapes just getting ready for harvest, the vegetables and flowers, the little stone house that was built into its neighbor's walls all seemed to make him sick. Dar-Kel looked at Kal with utter pity in his eyes, not hiding how sorry he felt for Kal to be 'trapped' on Earth for so long.

"Now," Kal said, surprising them both by being cheerful, "you're here and dinner is almost ready. I haven't had visitors from home in almost 70 years. I hope that you'll stay for dinner and tell me all the latest from home. I don't exactly get updates you see."

Al-Dar swallowed a laugh, looking uncomfortable. Dar-Kel's pitying look intensified and he nodded.

"Well, I suppose that staying for dinner would be…appropriate," Al-Dar said, making a face.

"Excellent," Kal said. "I'll have Agatha set us up in a separate room. I try not to discuss home around them, even though they know I'm not human. It's painfully obvious what we are after spending any time around us, and I've guarded their family for generations. Still, it's almost impossible to explain it to them, so I just don't discuss it with them."

"Why do you associate with them?" Dar-Kel asked curiously, following Kal into the house.

"It's that or go stark raving mad," Kal said with a shrug. "I have to have someone and something to live for over the next 1500 years or I won't be able to make it. They're my anchors, the ones who keep me sane. In return, I do my best to protect and guide them to be better people. Maybe in a few thousand years they'll come close to meeting Krypton's glory. I can see the potential in them, even if most everyone else cannot."

+++++

"You were Marcellus?" Lex asked, astonished. "Good God, Clark! Which one? No, never mind. You were both of them, weren't you?"

Clark laughed, beaming at Lex and nodding. It was so strange to see Clark looking like that, like he didn't have a care in the world. Lex could see Antonio Marcellus if he looked more closely. Add some grey at the temples and this jovial Clark would be Antonio. Make him more serious and skittish than Clark before he'd left and you had David Marcellus, not that Lex had ever been allowed to meet either of them personally. He'd had to rely on Bruce or intermediaries.

"Why the hell wouldn't you meet me if you were them?" Lex demanded, glaring. "I've been trying to meet you for years!"

"I know," Clark said, getting that utterly tender expression again. "But if I'd seen you, actually let myself be in the same room with you, I know I wouldn't have been able to let you go and that would have messed with the way things were supposed to happen. I wouldn't risk ruining the past. You're too important to me."

Lex blushed, raised his chin and refused to admit that he'd blushed and sipped his brandy. It was almost gone but that hardly mattered. He wasn't planning on having more, not while dealing with Clark. He didn't want to muddle his mind with alcohol.

"So what was the deal with Pioneer Astrophysics?" Lex asked. "It's been driving both Dad and I nuts for years."

"Not telling," Clark said grinning at Lex's huff. "No seriously, I'm not telling you yet. It's part of my plans for the future, Lex. The only way I ever made it through all these centuries was planning for the future. I needed the plans to be able to stay sane. It's a good plan, sort of a compliment to your defense work. You're working to protect Earth against threats and I'm working to get humanity out into space. We need to. Otherwise the human race is doomed and that would be a shame. Humans have so much potential."

"Odd to hear you talk about us as a separate species," Lex commented.

"Well you are a different species from me," Clark said with a shrug. "Being a feral child like me, it's hard to remember that but—"

"Why do you keep throwing me curve balls like that?" Lex demanded, putting down his brandy with a clack on the end table. "You are not a feral child! Give me a break!"

Clark laughed, finishing off his water and setting it aside.

"Actually I am," Clark said sadly. "A feral child is one who has been raised separate from his own species from very small childhood, who is reared by another species, and who doesn't get the proper stimulation during critical development periods of their childhood. They can't be socialized to function with their own species and frequently don't even recognize their own species as being the one they belong with. Sound like someone you know?"

"It's creepy how good you are at making me feel ill about your childhood," Lex commented clinically. "Did you plan it that way?"

Clark burst out laughing, grinning at him.

"No, afraid not," Clark said. "I was thoroughly offended when some Kryptonian visitors called me a feral child. Took a long time to accept it. I'm different in that the species that raised me looks virtually identical to my own species, has language and culture, and was able to give me proper enculturation, but that doesn't change the fact that I was raised by a species not my own. I don't think or act like a Kryptonian. I don't feel like a Kryptonian. I can't relate to them, have a hard time dealing with them and Kryptonian language remains a bit of a struggle for me. I'm apparently quite uncomfortable for most Kryptonians to deal with."

"You're rather uncomfortable for me to deal with," Lex said, snorting. "So, back to the story. Dad wiped my memory with electroshock therapy and you didn't manage to stop it. Then what?"

"The fairly standard Smallville nuttiness," Clark said with a shrug, "that led to me loosing and regaining my sight, Adam and his illness / return from death, telephone calls from the future, Summerholt, Jeremiah and the Star Blade, and us drifting apart because I was too afraid to trust and so were you. I had told Pete what I was but he never looked at me the same way after that. He left town rather than continue to deal with keeping the secret for me. That hurt. Then your dad got arrested and started manipulating everyone big time. He made it so that I found your Obsession room and that really drove us apart."

"Clark, I…"

"Don't worry about it," Clark said, waving off Lex's tentative apology. "The only difference between your files and Chloe's was the amount of money you put into making them audio-visual, instead of just computer files. I had a falling out with her about it, too, you know. You had ever right to investigate. They were all things that happened to you."

Lex swallowed hard, getting up and getting a bottle of water for himself. Damn it, Clark was doing entirely too good of a job jerking his emotions around. He'd wanted to hear that for years and now it came out of the blue.

"So where did you go that summer?" Lex asked, settling back down on the couch.

"About the time Pete left," Clark said, "A strange girl appeared, claiming to be my cousin Kara from Krypton. It was a trick created by Jor-El. After the falling out with you, Pete leaving, Lana going off to Paris and Chloe going into the Witness Protection program, I felt like I was totally alone. I submitted to my father's training. That took three months, the whole summer. When I cam back, I wasn't Clark Kent anymore. I was Kal-El, the Last Kryptonian, destined to rule the Earth."

"Excuse me?" Lex asked, horrified.

"According to my father," Kal said patiently, "I'm supposed to rule the world."

+++++

"Why are you defending them?" Al-Dar asked, looking out over the city from the walls. "They're so primitive. What in Rao's name do they have to offer you?"

"Sanity," Kal replied, chuckling at Al-Dar and Dar-Ken's looks of confusion. "Seriously, they're all that keeps me relatively sane. We're not meant to live for centuries on end, especially not when the people around us grow old and die. It's not enough for me to live somewhere without humans—not that there's a part of this planet that is uninhabited—and just exist. I need the interaction with other people or I'll go quite insane."

They'd spent about an hour and a half having a leisurely dinner that Dar-Ken admitted was quite tasty while Al-Dar just grumbled about how he was looking forward to getting home so he could have real food again. Afterwards, Kal had taken them for a walk. The gates were closed and they'd been directed to 'blend in', which meant they had to spend the night in town instead of flying away. Taking them to see the walls had been a natural part of that walk.

"How long have you been there?" Al-Dar asked, frowning.

"About 850 cycles," Kal said, shrugging at their shock. "I have around 1380 cycles left on my sentence before I get to go home."

"I really wonder what you did," Dar-Ken said, shuddering.

"I'm sure you do," Kal laughed, "but I can't tell you."

"You can tell me how these," Al-Dar gestured at the soldiers glaring that them, "could ever keep you sane. Not that I'm convinced that you are sane, of course."

Kal laughed, grinning at him. Dar-Ken grinned back, unable to resist Kal's mirth. Al-Dar was unmoved by the laughter and just huffed, arms crossed on his chest.

"I did say 'relatively sane', now didn't I?" Kal said as Theodore, the Captain of the watch came up the stairs, glaring. "I never claimed to be fully sane, just relatively functional."

Theodore glared (up, which was an oddity for him as he was very tall for the times) at Dar-Ken and Al-Dar, before turning to Kal respectfully.

"Kal," Theodore said, "Can you please tell me why these people are on the walls? You know that civilians are not allowed."

"Sorry, Theo," Kal said, switching back out of Kryptonian, "they're relatives from my homeland. They'd never seen walls such as this and wanted a quick tour to see how they function."

Theodore blinked, stared at Al-Dar and Dar-Ken, giving them a far more serious examination. Kal could practically hear the thoughts going through his head after all these centuries watching humans look at him and other Kryptonians. Too tall, too clean, their faces are too symmetrical, their hair is too glossy, their eyes are too bright, much too muscled, far too haughty, oh of course, they're not human!

"Ah, well, that's different then," Theodore said, nodding approval. "I'll tell the others not to worry about it. Next time, inform us before you take relatives up on the walls, if you will, please?"

"Of course," Kal said, hiding a grin behind one hand as Theodore turned smartly and head back down the stairs. Al-Dar and Dar-Ken were both staring, Dar-Ken openly and Al-Dar with a puzzled frown.

"What was that?" Al-Dar asked, trying to be offended though there really wasn't any reason to be.

"That was a human looking at you for three seconds and realizing that you're obviously not a human," Kal said, laughing at their naked shock. "Truly, gentlemen, it's instantly obvious that you're not human, just as its obvious that I'm not."

Neither of them seemed able to accept that. Kal grinned, leading them along the walls and then down the stairs so that they didn't keep upsetting the guards. The guards nodded respectfully and let them pass without comment, which was unusual, though Kal's guests wouldn't know that.

"They can see what we are?" Al-Dar asked, looking worried.

"Easily," Kal said. "Kryptonians are quite obvious, you know. We're simply too big and too perfect compared to humans. It's a very rare human that looks as beautiful and symmetrical as a Kryptonian. Their diet and general level of health prevents us from blending in. That's why we used to be mistaken for Gods and now are always mistaken for angels."

"They think we're some sort of religious entity?" Al-Dar asked, horrified.

"No," Kal said, "but only because I explained that I'm from another plane. I have to explain things somehow, and it used to be that I was from the realm of the Gods. Now they believe that there are other worlds that somehow coexist with this one, called planes, so I say that I'm from there. I certainly can't tell them the truth, after all."

Dar-Ken nodded thoughtfully, head cocked to the side.

"So you put things in terms that they'll understand," Dar-Ken said.

"Of course," Kal agreed. "It's the only way. After 850 cycles I've gotten over the urge to tell them everything. There's only one in a million human who can stretch his mind enough to understand it and only one in a billion who accepts it. It's not worth the battle. That's something that took hundreds of years to learn."

Kal rolled his eyes, getting puzzled looks from both of his guests.

"What is?" Al-Dar asked.

"Pick your battles," Kal said, smiling ruefully. "I used to have a horrible habit of fighting every battle as if it was the decisive one. That's part of how I ended up here. I fought the wrong battle the wrong way at the wrong time and ended up exiled into the past until I learned some basic lessons."

Al-Dar looked at Kal as though he was a strange new species of bug.

"You are so…odd," Al-Dar said, shuddering. "I cannot tell if you're deliberately trying to make me uncomfortable or if you're simply insane."

"I'm odd," Kal said, shrugging. "It's not a deliberate thing. This is just the way I am, have been most of my life and probably will be for the rest of my unnaturally long life. I am what I have to be to be able to cope."

+++++

Lex stared at Clark, heart stuttering as though it wanted to stop cold in his chest. Clark admitted he was an alien. He admitted he had powers. He admitted that he was functionally immortal. And now he was admitting that he was going to take over the world? Hell no!

"If you think—!"

"I'm not going to take over the world, Lex," Clark said, rolling his eyes. "If I were going to do that, I'd never have been sent to the past by my father. Or I would have taken over centuries ago. For heaven's sake, if I'd tried any time over the last 2000 years humanity wouldn't have stood a chance. I got sent to the past because I refused to do it."

"You just said…" Lex said, letting his heart start to slow down though he was still worried.

He had spent a great deal of the last year and a half trying to protect his country and the world against the threats facing it. Potential threats from arrogant aliens weren't ones that he'd taken seriously, but maybe he should have. If Clark was telling the truth, there were superior alien civilizations out there that might decide Earth was a tempting target for colonization.

"Granted," Clark said, nodding. "But I'd been quite thoroughly brainwashed by Jor-El. He overwrote my personality with his own version of me, one that would do what he wanted and behave the way he wanted. His Kal-El was the polar opposite of the real me, every bit the haughty Kryptonian who didn't believe that humanity was worth anything. You remember your experiments with Kryptonite that turned it black, splitting you in two?"

"How could I not?" Lex said, shuddering.

"Well, black kryptonite has the same splitting effect on me," Clark said. "Mom got some of it and used it to nearly break me in two. My normal, good self won the fight against my bad Kryptonian self and I was restored."

"Your life is nearly as odd as mine, isn't it?" Lex commented, raising an eyebrow at him. "I thought I had the head-lock on strange events."

Clark laughed, shaking his head no.

"Not even close," Clark said with a smirk. "After all, I got to be your father for a while."

"I've always wondered how you managed that," Lex said, studying Clark with all his curiosity reengaged.

"That's jumping a head just a tiny bit," Clark said. "You remember how you found the Crystal in Egypt? Well, that crystal made this horrific noise that only I could hear when you released it from its sculpture. I was Kal-El at the time so I flew there—"

"You can fly?" Lex interrupted, amazed.

"Yeah," Clark said, shrugging. "Remember that comment about getting a fear of heights during the crash? I can fly, but it took a long time to get good at it due to my fear of heights, about twenty years, actually. I crashed so often until I got over the panic attacks when I looked down and saw that I was way up in the air with nothing to support me."

Lex couldn't help but break up laughing at the thought of Clark flying, looking down, panicking and then crashing. Clark turned red but he was grinning at Lex. Obviously he wasn't too upset by the laughter.

"Sorry," Lex said, quelling the chuckles after a bit of effort. "Just the image of you freaking out in mid-air kills me."

"Add in a Roman tunic and people cheering for me on the ground and its even funnier," Clark said, snorting. "There's nothing like repeatedly humiliating yourself in front of a crowd to help you get over any sense of self-importance you may ever have had."

Lex almost laughed so hard that he peed his pants at that image. Given that he knew that the Romans wore little to nothing under their tunics most of the time, the image was twice as amusing. Clark sighed, rolled his eyes and waited for Lex to calm down.

"I always wore the Roman version of underwear when I flew," Clark said once Lex stopped laughing. "I hadn't fully overcome my modesty issues by then."

"Sorry, just a funny image," Lex chuckled, wiping his eyes. "I take it you have no body modestly now?"

"Very little," Clark purred, setting Lex's libido on fire with the look he gave him. "Should I give you a demonstration or should I continue the story?"

"Ouch, tough question!" Lex said, making Clark burst out laughing this time. "Can't I have both at once? A naked Clark and the truth?"

"Would you be able to listen if I was nude?" Clark asked, hands going to pull his jacket off. He grinned as Lex waved to stop him. "I'll take that as a no."

Lex snorted, giving Clark a look that threatened to combust the whole penthouse. There was no way in hell he'd be able to think straight with a naked Clark in front of him, no matter what was coming out of his mouth. Lex would be focusing all his efforts on making sure that the only thing Clark could say was Lex's name, over and over and over.

"Thought so," Clark said, grinning wickedly and letting his jacket go. "So, back to the story. You exposed the Crystal of Fire and it healed you of the poisoning that was killing you. I flew up, ripped the door off of your plane and stole the crystal. Then I flew back to the Kawatche Caves and put it in the secret chamber in the back of the caves."

"So that was you," Lex said, nodding thoughtfully. "I couldn't figure out what could have done it and discounted it being you because I 'knew' you couldn't fly. Makes sense now."

"I couldn't fly at the time," Clark said, shrugging, "unless I was Kal-El. The phobia short-circuited me. Anyway, normal Smallville nuttiness ensued while your father searched for the other Crystals of power, along with Genevieve Teague and her son Jason. Your father got one, the Crystal of Water, from Honduras. He used it to switch places with me, though his intention had been to switch places with you. I managed to switch back a couple of days later and Lionel forgot what he'd learned about me. Unfortunately, I lost the crystal in the transference and it ended up in Genevieve's hands. You know about the whole mess with the third crystal, the Crystal of Air."

Lex nodded, fascinated. He knew bits and pieces of the story, but Clark put it all together in ways completely different than Lex had.

"So, you and Jason went off to China after the Crystal of Air," Clark said, "and Lana and I followed you. We found it and then lost it to Jason, who then gave it to Lana who then used it to kill Genevieve right at the end of things. That killing set off the second meteor shower through some from of Butterfly Effect that I'm still working out the math on. It certainly woke the black spaceship, but that didn't mean the meteor shower had to occur. They could have come without that."

"Lana caused the meteor shower?" Lex asked, astonished.

"Afraid so," Clark said with a sigh. "She gave me the crystal, still covered in Genevieve's blood which was horrifying, and I put it with the first crystal. That made the third crystal that Lionel was carrying resonate and he became Jor-El's oracle. The meteor shower was starting, and I heard where the third crystal was, but when I got there, it was in your vault with kryptonite, which knocked me out. Chloe had been worried about Lana, so she came to the mansion and found me passed out. She pulled me far enough away that I woke up, just about the time you came back in."

"So that's why she was there!" Lex said, delighted to finally know. "She refused to tell me anything about it."

"That's Chloe," Clark said shrugging. "She doesn't trust you and has this thing about protecting me. I expect that it's going to be quite annoying in the next few years until she accepts that I'm in love with you. Anyway, I went back to the caves to unite the crystals and you followed with Chloe in tow. When I did, I was transported to the Arctic and Chloe got sucked along with me. The three Crystals of Power had united into one Crystal of Knowledge, which I then used to create my Fortress of Solitude."

"I can just hear all the capital letters in that sentence," Lex said dryly, getting a grin from Clark.

"Hey, what can I say?" Clark said with a shrug. "Kryptonians are a bunch of arrogant blow-hards. They find it necessary to be portentous about everything, especially names."

Lex snorted and Clark smirked, rolling his eyes at his own people. It was quite obvious that he truly felt no connection to his own people. Humans were Clark's people, even if he wasn't one of them.

"Anyway," Clark said, "Jor-El and the Kryptonian archives that have been here on Earth since about the time humanity evolved transferred from the caves to the Fortress. Which immediately transferred my father's buggy personality to the power that the Fortress controls, which—before you ask—is Not A Good Thing, most definitely all in capital letters. Jor-El insisted I complete my training, but Chloe showed up and I bargained for the right to get her to safety. Jor-El gave me one day or horrific consequences were going to befall everyone I cared about, from you and my parents on down the line. I agreed, ran Chloe back to a hospital to be treated for her hypothermia and frostbite and then ran back to Smallville to do what I could there. At nightfall, I decided I couldn't risk Jor-El killing everyone so I submitted to his training."

"And that's where you've been for the last year and a half," Lex said, relieved. "Finally. So you got back today—"

"No, actually I got back last week," Clark said with a grin. "A year and a half wasn't enough for me to get my head out of my ass, Lex. I was still the same defiant, messed up kid, just with better control over my powers. Still crashed a lot but I'd figured out the basics of flying. No, I spent the last week trying to decide which college to go to, how to pay for it, how to get back into Lana's life, how to explain where I'd been for the last year and a half to Chloe, and fretting about what a horrible person you'd become while I was gone. After all, you'd left Smallville and gotten a life."

Lex laughed, shaking his head.

"That sounds like the Clark Kent I used to know," Lex said, smirking at him.

"Exactly," Clark said, rolling his eyes at himself. "Anyway, Jor-El summoned me back to the Fortress because I wasn't 'fulfilling my destiny' to take over the world. I also wasn't doing anything worthwhile with my life and was clearly on my way to wasting it at the farm for several more years while I had decision paralysis. He threatened me, I was an arrogant little brat and he sent me into the past when I mouthed off too much."

"Why did you mouth off so badly?" Lex asked, curious.

"Because I saw what happened to you when you submitted to your father's destiny," Clark said fondly. "You do realize that he's no longer insane and will be trying to get out of Belle Reve again, don't you?"

"What?" Lex gasped, sitting bolt upright.

+++++

Kal worked steadily through the paperwork for his various business holdings. He only had nine years to go until he could go home again, back to Lex, back to his parents, back to Jor-El. There were so many things that he had to wrap up. He only had to stay in character as Antonio Marcellus for a few more years. Then he could work on being David, though being so neurotic would be a bit of a challenge. It would have been easier when he was younger, back when he was first sent back in time, but now, after so many centuries, it was harder. He'd mellowed out so much that he had a hard time being that young man—which was of course the point of the personality for David Marcellus. He had to get back in the habit of being Clark Kent, even though Clark was only nine years old right now. He looked up as he heard a scuffle at his office door.

"Sir!" Raul scolded, attempting to keep the door shut as someone tried to force his way into Kal's office. "I'm sorry, but you cannot go in there!"

"Nonsense," Lionel Luthor said breezily. "I can see Mr. Marcellus sitting right there. I hardly think that he'd object to meeting me when I'm already here."

Kal had to fight to keep from laughing. Good heavens, a younger Lionel Luthor was a lot more brash and lot less impressive than his older version that Clark had met (and feared) in Smallville. He looked much the same, of course, still in his overly-expensive suits, with long hair and a beard, but after centuries dealing with some of the most powerful people in history, Lionel was much less impressive than he'd been when Kal was young and thought his name was Clark.

"I beg your pardon," Kal said in Antonio's best stuffily annoyed tone of voice, the Italian accent especially thick, "but I am quite busy. I don't have time to meet with anyone right now."

"It's only paperwork," Lionel said, smile a little strained but only a little bit. "It can wait for a few minutes."

"No, it cannot," Kal said, frowning. "It must be completed before the board meeting in just fifteen minutes. I truly do not have time for meeting you right now, Mr…?"

He let the question dangle, making Lionel go a little red that he hadn't been instantly recognized. As expected, it made Lionel angry and an angry Lionel was likely to make mistakes and push where he wasn't supposed to. Kal did what to know what this intrusion was about, after all.

"Lionel Luthor," Lionel said, extending his hand over Kal's desk.

Kal studied it for a long moment, then deliberately leaned back in his chair and picked up his pen, tapping it against one hand. Lionel went redder and slowly pulled the hand back in, eyes hot as he glared at Kal.

"Mr. Luthor," Kal said slowly and ponderously enough that Lionel went pale, "I always appreciate enthusiasm, but there is a time and a place for everything. If you wish to speak with me on anything of import, it is far more appropriate to make an appointment with my secretary. If it is an urgent matter, he will schedule you in. Currently your emergency, whatever it may be, does not outweigh my board meeting."

Lionel bristled, his jaw working under his beard. He didn't make fists but his hands did tense up a bit before he deliberately relaxed them, glancing at Raul as if he was the enemy.

"I need to speak with you today," Lionel said. "This is a highly time sensitive matter and it cannot be delayed."

"Do I have time after the board meeting?" Kal asked Raul with a raised eyebrow.

Raul pulled out his little appointment book, frowning. Lionel tensed apparently assuming that he would be put off with sometime next decade, instead of today. Raul wouldn't do that, but Kal knew that Lionel would, so his reaction was no surprise to him. Raul saw it and fine lines appeared around his eyes and mouth showing his irritation at Lionel.

"If we switch your dinner with John to tomorrow as he requested," Raul said in Italian as subtle snub to Lionel, "then you would be free from 6:00 to approximately 9:00 tonight, sir."

"He can't make it tonight?" Kal asked, disappointed.

"No, apparently something else has come up," Raul said, lips twitching with amusement at Lionel's slight fidgets. "He called about twenty minutes ago saying something about a project that needed closer supervision today."

Kal nodded, trying to remember if anything major had happened today when he was nine years old. He couldn't, but that hardly meant anything. He had been guiding and helping J'onn J'onzz adjust to Earth ever since he ended up stranded here after the destruction of his homeworld. They'd become close friends and J'onn had agreed to watch over Clark and the younger incarnations of his friends and family once it became too dangerous for Kal to do it. If he had something to supervise it probably meant that Clark or one of his friends or family were in trouble today and needed a guardian angel.

"All right then," Kal said, turning back to Lionel. "How does speaking about your urgent matter over dinner at 6:00 sound, Mr. Luthor?"

"That's…perfect," Lionel said, completely thrown off by getting what he wanted when he'd been braced for rejection.

"Well, I shall meet you at 6:00 at the Garden," Kal said, smiling at Lionel. It was barely a smile, and said far more about his desire to see Lionel leave than it did about looking forward to seeing him. "I have a reservation already so you need not worry for anything."

"Ah, thank you," Lionel said, nodding his head in something that was almost a bow. "I'll leave you alone then."

He left and Raul huffed at the door once it closed behind Lionel. He knew that Kal wasn't supposed to interact with Lionel or Lex, so he wasn't pleased with this turn of events. Kal chuckled at him, making Raul stare at him.

"How can you be so calm about this, sir?" Raul asked, horrified. "You shouldn't have met with him at all!"

"Perhaps," Kal said, with a shrug. "But he was already here and I seriously doubt that he will connect Antonio Marcellus with little Clark, no matter what happens. Besides, I have to confess that I'm rather curious what is so vital that he must barge in here and demand to speak to me today. I don't know which of any of my business dealings are so vital right now."

"Pushy, horrible man," Raul muttered, heading back out to his desk to finish his preparations for the board meeting.

Kal agreed with Raul, especially once he was at the restaurant, sitting across the table from the now quite enthusiastic Lionel. Apparently, he seemed to think that Kal's standing reservation for this night each month was some sort of miracle of last minute scheduling, rather than Kal's substituting a pleasant dinner companion for a rather unpleasant one.

"Nonsense," Kal said, waving off Lionel's excessive praise and thanks, "I had the reservation already and have had it for quite some time. It was simply that my dinner companion was not able to meet me tonight, thus I was able to substitute you for him. Now, what was it that was so important for you to speak to me?"

He rather enjoyed watching Lionel deflate at the realization that he was just a replacement. He enjoyed it even more when the waiter came over and asked them for their orders in perfect Italian that Lionel clearly didn't understand. Never mind that Kal had gotten him this job at Raul's request—he was Raul's cousin. The loss of face was wonderful after everything Lionel had done in the past and would do in the future.

"English, my friend," Kal said, "as my dinner companion tonight does not speak our language."

"Of course, Uncle Tony," the waiter said, making Lionel start.

They made their orders, Lionel ordering the most expensive thing on the menu, and the waiter disappeared, leaving them alone to enjoy their wine. Lionel frowned, looking at Kal.

"Uncle?"

"He is my secretary's cousin," Kal laughed, sipping his wine and grinning over the rim of the glass at Lionel. "I have been friends with Raul's family most of his life and they all consider me to be something like an Uncle to them. I helped him get his work papers and this job, thus when it turned out to be a good restaurant he let me know and I began to dine here regularly. The food has only improved over the last several years that I have been coming here."

"I see," Lionel said, marshalling his thoughts and apparently wishing for something stronger than a nice mellow red wine from the expression on his face. "You've begun efforts to purchase a company called Pioneer Astrophysics."

Kal nodded, a bit amused that this was what all the fuss was about. It was a tiny company with a moderately nutty CEO who was trying to find a way to colonize space. Kal knew perfectly well that it would become one of the more powerful space exploration companies from his knowledge of the future and given his fierce interest in the subject, he'd decided to buy it. He was going to see that humanity went to space eventually. He'd supported the space race in the 60's, even though he'd known that it wouldn't go very far. The technology that they developed was more than worth it. Pioneer was his way of making sure that humanity did take that next step and give themselves a new frontier. If there was one thing that he knew from his centuries among them, humans needed a frontier to conquer as much as they needed air to breath.

"I am purchasing it," Kal said, nodding confirmation. "My board gave approval today and we will sign the papers tomorrow. It's a small company, but I find it quite promising. By the time my son is grown, it should be a solid venture."

Lionel looked like he'd just bitten into something bitter, which made Kal take another sip of his wine to hide the grin.

"Ah, I was hoping that you would pass it over," Lionel admitted with a hard swallow of his wine.

"Not at all," Kal said, shrugging. "My life is very limited, Mr. Luthor. I shall die sometime in the next decade due to my family's hereditary disease. I wish to give my son something to live for, something that he can look at and see his influence on humanity's destiny. Pioneer Astrophysics is my method of doing that. He has always been fascinated by the concept of taking humanity into space, so I am giving him the company as a present. Now he shall have a real way to make it happen."

Lionel's wine glass thunked to the table with almost enough force to spill wine over the pristine tablecloth, which made Kal laugh quietly at him. He raised an eyebrow at Lionel, amused. Lionel shook his head, looking away as he mastered himself.

"How old is your son?" Lionel asked, turning back to study Kal with eyes that were like lasers.

"He is just fifteen years old, three weeks ago," Kal said proudly. "I believe he is almost exactly a year younger than your son, Alexander."

"And you're giving him a million dollar company as a present?" Lionel asked with heavy irony.

"Yes," Kal said happily. "What better way is there for him to learn to do my job than to have such a thing?"

Lionel tried scornful amusement, which went over flat. Then he tried puzzlement and condensation, which Kal ignored. He went on to anger, and fear, and confusion, and then back to anger again, though he hid it a lot better.

"I suppose that you won't be selling it then," Lionel said, jaw working.

"Certainly not," Kal said as their meals arrived. "If my son tires of it someday, which I doubt, perhaps he might, but it is not at all likely. Please do enjoy your meal though, Mr. Luthor. Perhaps we can discuss something else."

He smiled and started eating his simple shrimp fettuccini alfredo. Their dinner wasn't comfortable but it was amusing. Lionel spent most of the dinner wrestling with his lobster and trying to find some way to convince Kal to sell the company. It made Kal wonder what in the world he was so obsessed about the company. He'd have to do some investigation later to find out what was driving Lionel.

+++++

"He's been insane since the meteor shower," Lex said, appalled. "You really think that he's going to suddenly return to perfect sanity?"

"Of course," Clark said calmly, far too calmly as far as Lex was concerned. "You see he was never truly insane, not the way that everyone else thinks. Not that he was especially stable, of course. Your father's a bit of a nut at the best of times."

Lex groaned, refusing to hear the whimpering tenor in his voice. He really wasn't sure that he could handle too many more of Clark's thoroughly troublesome and inconveniently believable statements. So far he'd made Lex reconsider the laws of physics, alien life on Earth, his own history, the history of the world, and now he wanted Lex to consider that his father might just come back from the loony bin to rule his life again.

"Lex," Clark said gently, hand startlingly warm and gentle on his face, "it will be all right. I know what happened to him and why he's been the way he's been. You need to let me continue so that you know what you're dealing with."

"If the old bastard is going to be trying to control me again," Lex said, glaring at Clark while leaning into the touch he'd wanted for so bloody long, "I suppose that I do need to hear you out. But I should be making some calls, don't you think?"

"And tip him off to the fact that you know?" Clark said, raising an eyebrow. "They'll call you. Let them do their thing and contact you when he manages to convince them. Hopefully it'll take at least overnight, possibly as much as a week. He never was particularly sane, you know."

Lex laughed at that, nodding agreement. The laughter had entirely too much shaky uneasiness in it, but it was laugh or get up and pace until he broke something. He wasn't going to give into that anymore, not now, not after he'd done so much to free himself from his father's bad habits.

"Your father went insane during the meteor shower," Clark said, "when the stone of power hidden in his jacket started glowing. What really happened was that I had placed two of the three stones in the hidden room in the Kawatche Caves. That made the third stone emit a signal that only I could hear, letting me track it down. By the time I got there, you'd put the stone in your safe and taken your father to get help."

"You told me that already," Lex growled.

"True," Clark said, nodding, "but the part that neither of us knew at that time was that Jor-El used that signal and the stone to take over Lionel's body. He became Jor-El's Oracle, the living avatar for the computer system. When you've interacted with Lionel over the last year and a half, you haven't been talking to him. You've been talking to Jor-El instead."

Lex stared, openly, honestly stared, making Clark grin at him.

"Now, when I came back to the Fortress after my exile ended," Clark said, reaching into the pocket of his leather jacket, "I came prepared. I'd concluded over the last few thousand years that something was desperately wrong with Jor-El's download. My father came to visit Earth in the 60's and I arranged to meet him without him knowing who I was. The man I met was nothing like the download. Someone or something corrupted the download of my father and changed him into a different person with completely different motives."

"What did you do?" Lex asked, studying the small crystal that Clark produced from his jacket.

"I created this," Clark said, passing it over to Lex. "It took the help of several visiting Kryptonian scientists and the base AI that has been monitoring humanity's development since the stone ages, but I did it. It's a prison of sorts, an electronic prison that will keep my father's download safely locked away from the Fortress' control system while I work on debugging him. I'm going to save him eventually, restore him to the person he should be. It'll just take a while."

Lex turned it over and over in his hands, trying to determine how a small, whitish chunk of crystal could do the things that Clark was implying but there was no sign of how it worked. He supposed that he didn't have the correct DNA or whatever analog Clark had to access it. He handed it back, frowning as Clark continued.

"The key part for you to understand," Clark said, "is that your father has been controlled by my father for the last couple of years. He's no longer controlled by Jor-El and is going to be trying to get out of Belle Reve and will certainly be confounding his doctors with his unexpected recovery right now."

"I still think I should call over there," Lex sighed, looking at the phone until Clark patted his leg.

"He's not that bright, Lex," Clark smirked, looking far older than he should. "Trust me, I've been dealing with him for the last nine years as Antonio and he's truly an idiot about some things. When he doesn't have his money and power to fall back on, he's nothing more than a street thug. It's going to take him quite a bit of work to convince the doctors that he's sane as his only tools are seduction, intimidation and threats of violence. If you play it cool and insist that the doctors do full psychiatric evaluations on him, they're going to find all sorts of interesting things and his release will be limited or profoundly delayed. Don't fight him outright, just insist that he prove that he's sane. Given that he never truly was that sane, it's going to be a struggle for him."

Lex sighed, looking at Clark with a troubled heart.

"You've thought of everything, haven't you?" Lex asked. "Where do you see this evening ending?"

"With the two of us in your bed, naked," Clark purred, eyes suddenly full of lust. "I see the two of us together for the rest of our lives, Lex. It's going to take probably a hundred years or so before everyone accepts it or dies off, but I want you as my lover, the one I share my life with forever. I've waited more than two thousand years to be reunited with you. I can wait more, but I'm really hoping to get to the point where I can seduce you and take you straight to bed tonight."

"What are you waiting for?" Lex asked, raising an eyebrow at him and smirking.

+++++

The farmhouse was exactly has it had been, painted bright yellow and cheerfully small. The animals were healthy and well tended. The truck was old and battered. The tractor had seen better days, of course. It had all but belonged to Kal's grandfather. Kal smiled, standing with his leather jacket over one shoulder, just looking at the place.

For all that Kryptonians had near perfect memories, there were so many little details that had faded over the centuries. He had forgotten the white trim. He'd forgotten the fence with its scalloped top rails. He'd forgotten that they had shrubs along the fence, and roses along the side of the house. A million tiny details leaped out at him, slowly returning to his memory, restoring his mental image of 'home' to one that matched the reality. As he gazed happily, the front door opened and Martha came out, looking over her shoulder as she talked with Jonathan.

"Do we need anything else at the store, Jon?" Martha said, rummaging in her purse for the keys. Whatever else she was going to say died in her throat as she turned and saw Kal beaming at her. "Clark! Where have you been, sweetie? We've been worried sick!"

"Sorry Mom," Kal said, laughing at the way she hurried over to check on him, errands and keys forgotten.

"It's been a week since you rushed off," she said, resting a hand on his arm and watching him carefully. "We were afraid that Jor-El tried something again."

"Oh, he did," Kal said with a tiny shrug. "Its taken care of now."

"Clark?" Jonathan said, staring at him with a frown stamped all over his face. "You didn't say where you were all this week. What happened? Why did Jor-El summon you?"

Kal laughed and hugged Martha, burying his face in her hair and discovering that he truly did remember how she smelled, even after 2,547 years away. She laughed and hugged him back for a second, stilling as the hug went on just a bit too long. When he let go she was studying his face and paled at all the differences that a mother had to be able to see. Of course, Kal was pretty sure that everyone was going to see the differences. He'd changed so much that it was painfully obvious, at least to him.

"Do you have time to talk?" Kal asked, smiling lovingly at her. "Or do you need the groceries first?"

"Talk first," Martha declared, taking Kal's hand and leading him back inside. "Groceries can wait until I understand what's changed you, Clark."

"It's a long story," Kal laughed, squeezing her hand gently.

"We have time for you, baby," Martha said, setting off a wave of pure love inside of him. "We always have time for you."

Jonathan watched him warily, worried about the changes that he was seeing. Kal was sure that Jonathan was going to take his week-long stay with Lex poorly, but Kal could care less at this point. They'd be overwhelmed by what he had to tell them. Kal and Lex being lovers at long last would certainly just be one more thing in the mix. Finding out that their beloved son had spent a couple of thousand years living through history and that he'd been protecting their bloodline for generations would be enough to overwhelm their sense. Adding Lex in would sort circuit his dad's brain, but that would happen no matter what.

"So," Martha said, sitting down at the familiar old table and having Clark sit, too, "tell us what happened and where you've been."

"Well," Kal said with a sigh, "Jor-El summoned me again and asked why I hadn't taken over the world…"

About three and a half hours later, they were both shell-shocked and staring at him. After the first twenty minutes or so, they had just shut up and let him talk, telling them the story of his exile to the past, his slow return to the present and how he'd captured Jor-El so that he wouldn't hurt anyone again.

"I do intend to debug him," Kal said fondly as he ran his fingers over the edges of the small white crystal. "He's not really my father, but he's all that's left of him. When I met him in the 60's he was a good guy. I want to try and get him back to that state."

"So it took you a week to capture him?" Jonathan asked, looking at the little crystal like it was the enemy.

"Oh, no," Kal laughed, "that took all of about thirty seconds, Dad. Well, actually it was more like 150 years of prep and then thirty seconds of execution. No, I've been with Lex for the last week."

As expected, that statement made Jonathan stiffen and Martha gasp. Kal just looked at his dad, face calm and bland. This wasn't something that he was going to let anyone bully him on anymore, not even the man he considered to be his true father. After a week with Lex as his lover, there was no way Kal was going back to anything else.

"Lex?" Jonathan snarled, immediately assuming the worst. "What did he do? Are you all right? Did he find anything out?"

"I told him everything, Dad," Kal said calmly. "He's my lover now. He's the person that I'm going to spend my life with."

"Clark," Martha said, laying that overly gentle hand on his arm, "I'm sure you're very fond of him, but—"

Kal's bark of laughter caught them both off guard. They truly hadn't accepted what he'd told them, that he'd been gone for 2,500 years. He'd expected that, which was of course why he'd brought Lex up in this way. They needed it hammered home, and nothing and no one was better at that sort of thing than Lex Luthor.

"Fond is an understatement," Kal said with a roll of his eyes. "He's the one person that I never forgot over the centuries, Mom. I forgot what you and Dad look like. I forgot the sound of your voices. I forgot all the little details, the way your eyes crinkle as you smile, the way Dad's mouth goes when he's angry, Chloe, Lana, everyone else. They all faded, replaced by centuries of other people, other events, other lives. But not Lex. Every damn day he was clear in my mind. He's the one person that I never forgot."

They paled as Kal spoke, neither ready to accept that they'd been forgotten when Lex had been remembered. Kal let himself be his true self, Kal instead of the pretend-Clark he'd been for them so far. The change of body language and facial expression made Martha gasp and pull her hand back. It made Jonathan stiffen and stare, eyes wide with fear and awe.

"I am not truly Clark Kent anymore," Kal said calmly. "Not after that long. I am but I'm not. I've had centuries to work out what I really feel, and what I feel for Lex goes so far beyond love that you could fairly call it obsession. He is the reason that I was able to make it back to the Now, Mom. Without him, I would not exist. I would simply have disappeared into nothing and never returned. I would have let the Kryptonians I met in the past take me back to Krypton, to live out a normal life there, marry, have kids, grow old and die. It was the logical thing to do. Thousands of years to get back to my old life? Watching generation after generation of the people around me grow old and die while I stayed the same was horrific. It was damn near torture. Why would anyone subject themselves to that if they had a choice?"

Martha looked away, one hand going to her mouth as she fought tears. Jonathan looked almost ill as he imagined it. He swallowed back his tears; mouth a thin line, which made Kal pat his shoulder comfortingly. Jonathan smiled weakly at him, capturing his hand as it sat on his shoulder; the squeeze letting Kal know for better than words that Jonathan got it.

"The only reason I'm here," Kal said calmly, "is because I wanted to come back to Lex. It took forever for me to realize just how much he means to me but once I did I had to survive. I had to come home. Home for me is Lex. I love you both, never doubt that, but Lex is my heart and soul. I'm so obsessed with him that I spent literally eons fighting to get back to his side. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, Lex is just as obsessed with me, so it evens out. We are together, we're going to stay together and there's not a heck of a lot anyone has to say about it."

"Well, at least Lionel won't cause trouble," Martha said with a tired, sad sigh.

"Not true," Kal said, voice full of wry amusement. "He's kicking up a major fuss, but the tranquilizers his doctor's prescribed are keeping him from being too much of an issue. He's 'sane' again, you see."

Their expressions of horror made Kal laugh. He leaned on the table, smiling at them. Explaining what had happened to Lionel and how he was now restored took another half hour, by which point Martha was making dinner and Jonathan had apparently decided to let the whole Lex question sit. Lionel was a bigger threat, and Lex was already firmly on Kal's side. As Martha was draining off the potatoes she'd boiled for making mashed potatoes, the front door opened and Lana entered, hidden behind a huge pile of boxes that she was just barely managing to hold in her arms.

"Sorry I'm so late," Lana called from behind her stack of boxes. "I got out of Metropolis late and then Chloe had some stuff for the sale, too, so I had to pick her up. She's getting her stuff out of the truck of my car."

"Let me help you with that," Kal said, grinning at Jonathan before taking the boxes from Lana's startled arms.

"Oh my God!" Lana gasped, staring up at him in shock. "Clark?"

+++++

Clark laughed that entirely-too-sexy-for-words laugh that Lex hadn't know he was capable of, making Lex's pulse start throbbing in his ears. The look in his eyes was pure sex, and the smile was pure love. Lex shivered and moved closer, wanting this Clark far more than he'd ever wanted the old, no wait, the young Clark.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Clark asked, the look in his eyes making it perfectly clear that he knew what he wanted.

"Shut up and get over here," Lex growled, grabbing Clark's shirt and pulling him to Lex's side of the couch.

"Mmrrr," Clark purred, distinctly purred as if he were some big cat about to curl up in Lex's lap.

He moved like a cat, too, all liquid powerful grace and controlled power that set off Lex's libido like nothing else could have (except maybe a spanking or something wilder but that was for later). Lex found himself pinned down underneath Clark's larger frame. He was hot, almost feverishly hot. Lex groaned into Clark's lips.

God, those lips! He kissed like nothing Lex had ever experienced, better than good, nearly like kissing God himself, Lex thought irreverently as his breath fled and his fingers clenched in Clark's hair. Silky hair, just long enough to cling to. Broad, strong, muscled shoulders and arms that pulled Lex close, holding him with the sort of strength that mortal man didn't possess. Lex heard whimpers and realized that they were coming from him. The purr had gotten a lot louder, which let Lex pull back and catch his breath with the excuse of teasing Clark.

"You sound happy," Lex said, grinning at Clark. They were practically nose-to-nose, as Clark wouldn't let him go any further than that.

"I am happy," Clark said, eyes flaring red for just a second. "Kissing you is way better than I imagined it to be. I've imagined it far too many times over the centuries."

"Are you trying to make me have a heart attack?" Lex asked as his breath went away.

"No," Clark purred, grinning mischievously. "I intend to make you forget you've ever had anyone else touch you. I intend to keep you all to myself for all time. I intend to make you mine now and forever."

"Prove it," Lex breathed, unable to resist the challenge.

Clark proceeded to do just that. Lex gasped as Clark nibbled his way down his cheek to his neck, wondering what alien powers it took to be able to set off shivers of sheer lust. His tie had gone away, and his shirt was being smoothly opened, and Lex couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever known anyone that talented to be able to do that with his tongue while undressing their lover and still purring like a big cat? He didn't think so; especially since whatever Clark's tongue was up to along his neck, collarbone, and then nipples was making him whimper and gasp so loud that he was grateful that they were in his penthouse instead of in the office. Security would have been there instantly to find out who was killing Lex.

As soon as Lex's shirt had joined his tie on the floor, Clark reared back, which gave Lex enough time to realize that somehow he'd ended up on his back on the couch with Clark on top of him. Of course, the view of Clark's body Lex got as he stripped off his shirt more than made up for the (very) mild indignation that somehow he'd become the bottom with no discussion of that fact.

"God you're gorgeous," Lex breathed, cock throbbing at the sight of Clark's beautiful golden body.

"I think you're far more gorgeous," Clark purred, easing back down to lick and kiss his way back up to Lex's mouth.

That kiss was better than the first kiss, leaving Lex helplessly humping against Clark and whimpering for more. Where the Hell had he learned to kiss like that? Lex laughed into Clark's lips as soon as the thought occurred to him.

"What?" Clark asked, switching focus to Lex's ear and nearly making him scream with lust.

"I suppose 2,500 years makes for some serious experience at this sort of thing," Lex groaned, surprised at the sheer envy that swept over him. "Must have had thousands of lovers."

He hated them, each and every one of the unknown lovers that had touched his Clark. They'd been here before Lex had ever gotten a chance at Clark. They'd seen his body, touched him, taught him these techniques and while the techniques were almost literally mind blowing, he hated them because Clark hadn't found them with Lex.

"Mmrrr," Clark purred, pinning Lex down with his body weight and looking him dead in the eyes. "Antonius. Claudius. Ramon. Gabriel. Sean. Feliciano. Brendan. And Raul."

"Who are they?" Lex asked, surprised.

"My lovers," Clark said, smirking at him. "All eight of them."

Lex blinked, staring at Clark with all lust and envy forgotten. Eight? He'd had eight lovers over the course of 2,500 years? Clark laughed, running a warm, gentle hand over his scalp. Damn, did every single touch set Lex off or what?

"You've had only eight lovers?" Lex asked, not quite believing it.

"They were all going to die," Clark said, infinite sadness in his eyes. "You aren't, Lex. Your meteor mutation means that you're going to keep living for a long, long time, maybe as long as me. I only met eight men that were…worth the pain of loosing them."

"Men?" Lex said, not letting Clark continue kissing him. "What about women?"

There had to be more women. Clark had always been interested in women, thus the endless angst about Lana Lang. Maybe there'd only been the eight men, but there had to have been hundreds of women that Clark had done in the past. He was too gorgeous to have been celibate for that long!

"Oh, I never touched women," Clark said with a shrug. "I wasn't going to risk a half-breed child messing up history. Besides, I really don't like women that way. Sure, they're wonderful people but I just can't seem to get past how small and fragile they are. Men aren't fragile. Men, especially you, are strong, sexy, and I like men far more. Especially when they remind me of you."

Lex's heart did that stopping thing as all the breath left this body again. There was no way he'd understood that line correctly. Clark could not possibly have meant what Lex thought he'd meant. Clark leaned over and started kissing his way back down Lex's body, making him whimper and shudder and thrust again.

"They all reminded me of you, Lex," Clark purred, eyes occasionally flashing red as he watched Lex's reactions to his ministrations. "Antonius was your direct ancestor, back in ancient Rome. He was fierce, haughty, determined, everything that you are. Claudius was bald and slender, just like you, just as brilliant a mind. He was also Rome, but almost 300 years later. Ramon was a fencer like you, a brilliant military man who was also an alchemist. Fast and smart and his eyes were nearly your shade of blue. Gabriel, Sean, Feliciano, Brendan, Raul, they all reminded me of you. I passed the centuries searching for a face, a mind, a body, a person that reminded me of you."

Lex was fighting back tears that he wanted to believe were because of the incredible things Clark was doing as he opened Lex's pants and started stroking his erection with fingers that should not be that gentle when they were that large.

"They hated you so much," Clark breathed, tongue flicking the tip of Lex's cock. It nearly made him levitate right off of the couch. "They hated that they were replacements for you. They hated that I thought of you when I made love to them. Even Antonius who knew that I loved you before I knew it hated you. They wanted me all to themselves and even if you weren't there, you had me first."

He swallowed Lex's cock whole. It was incredible. Lex could hear the sounds he was making but had no control over his voice. It seemed like forever and no time at all before he couldn't hold back anymore. Clark purred harder as he swallowed. He was smiling so happily as he settled gently on top of Lex.

"Want you," Lex whimpered, pulling Clark into a fierce hug.

"You have me," Clark whispered into his ear, letting free the tears that Lex had been holding back by sheer willpower. "You always have."

+++++

Lana stared up at Clark, letting him take her stack of boxes. She couldn't believe it! Clark was back with as little warning as when he'd left. She'd spent the last year and a half trying to figure out why he left with no word, no warning, and then hadn't sent a single postcard or called once, but seeing his beautiful green eyes and broad grin made her forgive him in spite of herself.

"Nice to see you again," Clark said, taking the boxes and carrying them over to the other room as if they weighed nothing. For him they probably did, but for Lana they'd been a struggle. "What have you been doing for the last year and a half?"

"Wondering what happened to you," Lana said, hearing the snap in her voice and sighing inwardly. She hadn't really intended to snap at him when he only just got back. "Where did you go? What happened?"

"Oh, all over the place," Clark said shrugging calmly. "I loved Italy. Had the best time in Rome! France was fun and you're right about the Tower, but I loved Italy much more."

Lana stared, too shocked by his calm to really think. She's snapped and he didn't apologize? He didn't duck his head and give her those killer puppy eyes and beg her to forgive him? She really looked at Clark and the changes made her want to shiver. He stood so much taller now, with his shoulders square instead of slumped. He met her eyes so calmly, with no doubt or hesitation. His smile wasn't hesitant at all. No twisting of his hands, no shuffling of his feet. He'd changed during his trip.

"Hey, make room!" Chloe said behind Lana, starting her into motion again. "What's up? You're blocking the road."

"Clark…" Lana said, gesturing aimlessly at him and frowning at Chloe.

Chloe looked and squealed, honestly squealed like a fan girl. She dumped the boxes on the floor and ran over, hugging the stuffing out of Clark. Lana immediately wished she'd done that, but it was too late and besides it would just make her look silly, the way it was making Chloe look silly. Lana hovered in the living room, hesitating to get too close. It felt like if she did, Clark would disappear again, leaving her alone to deal with everything by herself.

"Good to see you too, Chlo," Clark laughed, hugging her back. He grinned as she let go and backed up a step.

"Where the hell have you been?" Chloe growled, smacking Clark in the arm. "Darn it, you just up and vanished on everyone!"

"I've been all over, but as I was just telling Lana, I love Italy best of all," Clark said, making Chloe blink in surprise. "So are you two staying for dinner?"

"Of course they are," Mrs. Kent said, smiling at Lana and Chloe. "I was planning on it before Clark decided to show up out of the blue."

Dinner was odd; that was the only word Lana could put to it. The Kents and Chloe seemed to be dancing around something about Clark's absence, which wasn't a surprise at all. They'd been doing that for the last year and a half, ever since the meteor shower. Lana had spent the last year and a half trying to convince everyone that she'd seen a spaceship after the meteor shower but no one listened, so she didn't try with Clark. There was nothing odd there. It was Clark that was odd. He wasn't dancing around any of their conversational subjects at all. He wasn't upset, wasn't worried, and wasn't even slightly repentant about his lack of contact. But the way he kept talking about Lex made her teeth hurt!

"I can't believe that you spent the last week with Lex," Chloe complained as Mrs. Kent got them all pie. Lana smiled at her, thanking her for making Lana's slice a tiny sliver.

"What can I say?" Clark said with a casual shrug. "That's where I wanted to be."

"Lex Luthor was more important than your family or your friends," Chloe huffed, giving Clark the glare that Lana wanted to give him.

"Yes," Clark said with such complete calm and certainty that it made the hair on Lana's neck stand up. Mr. Kent looked like he felt the same way as Lana did, making sour face as he took a bite of his pie.

Clark changed the subject, asking Chloe and Lana what they'd been up to while he'd been gone. Chloe happily chattered away about her various projects, boyfriends and classes, leaving Lana to study Clark and occasionally offer a safe comment about her own activities. She certainly wasn't going to tell him everything—her searches for the black spaceship weren't something she was going to trust him with. Clark didn't seem all that interested, but he listened and nodded, laughed the right places. Lana frowned, feeling her lips go thin as she started getting angry.

How could he be so calm about abandoning Lana for a year and a half? How could he just sit there and say that Lex Luthor was more important to him than his parents and girlfriend? This was so wrong! Once dinner was done and Chloe had headed off with Mrs. Kent to help with the dishes, Mr. Kent went out to do one last check on the animals, clearly giving Lana and Clark some time alone.

"Why don't we go out on the porch?" Clark suggested, smiling so gently at Lana that her stomach twisted yet again.

"That's probably a good idea," Lana said quietly.

Clark held the door for her, walked to the swing and settled down next to her. Lana sighed, hugging herself. It was warm outside, with a heat wave hitting the area, so she had no idea why she was gooseflesh all over. Clark looked out at the farm, that serene expression still firmly planted on his face.

"What will you do now?" Lana asked, more to get some sort of conversation going than any real curiosity. She wanted to understand her own reactions to this strange new Clark.

"I'll be going to Met U," Clark said calmly, always with the calm. "I applied for a scholarship while I was on my trip and I just got news that I got it. It's a full ride, books, tuition, room and board. It even has a small stipend for cash. I haven't had time to tell Mom and Dad but once you guys go home I'll tell them the good news."

"That's great," Lana said, finding herself oddly relieved by the normalcy of that. "We can see each other then."

Clark turned and looked at her, frowning as if puzzled by her statement. The relief evaporated, replaced by a thousand times stronger feeling of fear and worry. Clark sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with one hand before shaking his head sadly.

"Lana," Clark said in a far too gentle tone of voice, "I hope you haven't been waiting for me. I thought it was pretty clear that we were over."

Lana heard an astonished squeak and realized that it had come from her own mouth. She stared at Clark, unable to say anything. Clark was dumping her? Clark couldn't dump her—he loved her! Clark sighed again, shoulders slumping even more.

"You were waiting for me, weren't you?" Clark said, pity clear in his eyes. "Lana, really. It's never worked properly between us. Why in the world would you wait for me?"

"You love me," Lana said, completely certain of that one truth.

"No, I don't," Clark said snorting. "I loved an image of you, the one that could keep me safe from seeing what I really am. I loved that you distracted me from my real feelings. I loved the way it made me feel to see other guys watching me with you on my arm. I don't think I ever really, truly loved you though. It was always the way you kept me from seeing the truth."

Lana tensed, her whole body going hard as rock, from her jaw all the way down to her toes. This could not be happening. Clark could not be saying these things! The next thing she knew he'd be admitting he'd been in love with Chloe all along and had been too embarrassed to admit he wanted the geek journalist instead of her.

"Being involved with you," Clark continued as if she weren't glaring daggers of death at him, "let me avoid admitting to anyone, myself included, what I was feeling for Lex. Well, not just Lex, honestly. There was Pete, and Whitney, and half the guys on the football team, and Jason and then of course always Lex was in the back of my head."

"Oh my God," Lana said, horrified as it suddenly gelled for her. "You're…?"

"Gay," Clark said, totally calmly. "I told Mom and Dad before you and Chloe showed up. The whole meteor shower really made me think about things, Lana. I had to face the fact that I didn't want to rescue you. I wanted to rescue Lex. He's the one I'm in love with. He's the one I intend to spend my life with. We spent the last week sorting things out and he agrees with me that we're made for each other. We're a couple now. When I go back to Metropolis, it will be to go back to Lex. I'm really sorry, but I didn't think you were waiting for me."

Lana groaned, slumping back into the swing. She couldn't believe this. The boy she'd spent her entire high school career involved with turned out to be gay. He had never truly cared about her, just that she was nice camouflage. Lana buried her face in her hands, wishing she had an axe or something to bury in Clark's head.

"So all I was to you was a disguise?" Lana finally snapped, glaring at Clark.

"No," Clark said. "I wasn't letting myself see what I was feeling. You were the girl who confused me, Lana. I've been attracted to precisely three girls in my life. You, first, always, and probably eternally are the girl who confused me. Chloe has always been the best friend who could have been more if I'd been straighter. And Alicia knew how I felt about guys and accepted it. That's it. I've never felt anything about any other girls."

"Alicia knew?" Lana asked, astonished.

"Mmm-hmm," Clark said, shrugging and looking very sad. "She knew my secret and it didn't matter to her. I knew her secret and it didn't matter to me. I think we would have been a…very interesting couple if she hadn't been murdered."

Lana sighed, looking out over the yard. Surreal. That was the perfect word for this whole discussion. It was surreal sitting here listening to Clark tell her that he was gay and that she'd never had a real chance with him. She wouldn't have believed it except that now that she knew she could see it so easily. It was so obvious that she didn't know how she'd missed it for so long: his reluctance to touch, to kiss, and to make love made total sense when seen this way. He used to cringe every time she touched him or tried to kiss him. He always hugged her like she was made of glass, but maybe it was because she was small and soft and female instead of large and muscular and….

"Wait a minute," Lana said, one of Clark's comments suddenly connecting in her brain. "Were you in love with Whitney? And Jason? God, Clark! Were you thinking of them while I was with you?"

"Whitney yes," Clark said, wincing ever so slightly at her fury but still meeting her eyes squarely. "Jason, no. You did know that Whitney hit on me, didn't you?"

"No," Lana said, the urge to go and kick Whitney's grave suddenly sweeping over her. "No, I didn't."

"Sorry," Clark laughed, smiling ruefully. "He did. I hit on Jason and he nearly decked me. Made playing for him a lot harder but neither of us ever spoke of it after that once incident."

Lana growled, standing to go to the rail. She dug her nails into it, wishing she could kick a puppy or something, not that she ever would do that but the urge to cause real, physical damage to someone, somewhere, was overwhelming right now. Clark stayed on the swing watching her silently. He really had grown. If he were the same Clark as when he'd left, he'd have been hovering by her side, hunching his shoulders to try and be smaller, less conspicuous. He'd have been apologizing non-stop. It was actually kind of nice, even calming, that he gave her room to think and get over her fury.

"I guess I should collect Chloe and go," Lana said, turning to Clark's entirely too calm eyes.

"I can always run her into town if you want some alone time," Clark offered. "I'm pretty sure Chloe's just waiting for her chance to bend my ear about being gone and not contacting anyone."

Lana laughed at that, nodding. Chloe probably would appreciate a chance to get at Clark, too. Lana sighed, cocking her head at him. She'd dated over the last year and a half, but had never let it get serious with any of the guys. She'd been waiting for Clark, whether she admitted it or not.

"Do you think we would ever have worked out?" Lana asked wistfully.

"No," Clark said, looking up at her with a sad sigh. "I could never be honest with you. I could never truly trust you, and you always knew it. Besides, I don't think that you'd have been able to deal with my attraction to guys."

"No, I wouldn't have," Lana admitted. "Thanks for telling me at last, Clark."

"You're welcome," Clark said.

Clark opened his arms and Lana accepted that one last hug. It hurt to think that it was the last hug, the end of their relationship. She wasn't going to think about Clark with Lex or Whitney or any other guy that he might have gotten to know on his trip. She wasn't going to think about how she'd planned out their wedding ever time she saw a wedding magazine. She wasn't going admit that she compared all men to him and found them wanting. It was over, truly over for the first time in their lives.

"You going to be okay?" Clark asked, once she let go and wiped her tears away.

"Yeah," Lana said, smiling at him. "I've got an offer to go back to Paris. I think I might just do it."

"It's a beautiful city," Clark said, smiling at brilliant smile at her. "I'm sure you'll be happy there."

+++++

"Why?" Raul asked, hearing the raw desperation in his voice as Kal turned away. "Why is your Lex so much better than anyone else?"

Kal sighed, strong broad shoulders slumping ever so slightly. Raul hated this, hated it! Kal was so perfect, so beautiful. He knew so much about history and culture, but he was pining away for a person who hadn't even been born yet. Granted, at a mere eighteen years old, Raul was anything other than a match for Kal, but he'd loved Kal since he saved Raul's life at six.

"He's the reason that I exist," Kal said, deep voice resonating in the empty room that they were starting to renovate. "If it were not for Lex, I would quite literally not be here, Raul. I would not have survived all these centuries if I were not obsessed with him. I'm sorry that my obsession with him bothers you so. Perhaps your cousin can help me with the renovations instead."

"No!" Raul cried, feeling like his heart had been ripped out.

This was his place, his project! He'd found the old villa that matched the one Kal had told him of when he was little. He'd figured out who owned it. He'd talked Kal into buying it. He'd been here all along, by Kal's side, his cute little sidekick, his helper, his friend, always hoping for more. Kal couldn't take this away from him!

"Please no," Raul whimpered, tears in his eyes. "Kal, please. I just want to stay by your side. Please don't send me away."

"Raul," Kal sighed, turning back to him with eyes full of pain. "You're not a child anymore. You need to get on with your life, find a girlfriend, get a job, make a life for yourself."

"I don't want a girlfriend!" Raul shouted. "I want you!"

The words hung in the air. He couldn't believe he'd said it. He couldn't believe that he'd finally admitted out loud that he was interested in Kal, the immortal, the perfect, untouchable one who had saved him from being crushed as a mere child. Kal stared at him, so clearly astonished that Raul almost laughed through his tears. Kal hadn't realized it. He hadn't known that Raul loved him until just now.

"It would end the instant I'm back with Lex," Kal said, eyes going dark. "Even if we did become lovers, Lex is my heart and soul. It would end as soon as I could be with him. That's not fair to you."

"You've shared so much with me," Raul pleaded, going over to take Kal's hands away from the tools. "You've told me what you really are. You've trusted me with your identity, your weakness, your history, everything. I cannot go anywhere else, Kal. Too much of me has been wrapped up in you. Please. I know it cannot last but this is all I want. I want to be by your side until the day I die. I want to serve you—in every way—for as long as I can. Please don't send me away."

Kal laid a gentle hand against Raul's cheek, his thumb brushing the tears away. Raul could swear that Kal had only just noticed that Raul was a man now. Maybe for an immortal like him it was a surprise that twelve years had passed and Raul had matured. He didn't know what Kal was searching for in his face as his beautiful green eyes bored into Raul. He didn't know if he could survive being rejected by this person who was his everything.

"It's been so long since I had anyone who felt this way about me," Kal sighed, resting his forehead against Raul's. "Not since Feliciano. He was my slave centuries ago. Oh Raul. It was too late the first day, wasn't it?"

"It was too late the instant you saved me," Raul admitted, tears still running down his cheeks as his breath shuddered in his chest. "Please Kal. All I have ever wanted is you."

Kal pulled Raul close, holding him so much more tenderly than he ever had. Kal had been holding Raul since he was six years old but this was different from his other hugs. Raul didn't care if it was pity. He didn't care if the only reason Kal held him this was because Raul was crying and falling to pieces in front of him. He'd take what he could get, even as he loathed Kal's Lex Luthor with every fiber of his being. Why couldn't it be him that Kal loved so much?

"Shhh," Kal whispered, petting Raul's back. "Shhh, it's all right, bambino. It's all right. I won't send you away. You can stay."

Raul silenced the soothing words by latching his lips onto Kal's. He didn't want to be a baby to Kal, even though he knew he always would be—the age difference made that inevitable. He wanted Kal to see him as a man, or at least as an interesting diversion as he passed the nearly three decades left to his reunion with Lex. Kal made a surprised noise but didn't resist the kiss. With all his strength and power, he could have so easily. It gave Raul hope and he kissed more urgently, more desperately.

"Mmm," Kal rumbled, catching Raul and pushing him back against the workbench.

Raul was by no means a virgin, having lost his virginity at a scandalous age to a man who looked as close as possible to Kal, but Kal's mouth and hands and hips were so far beyond anything any of his lovers had done that he felt like he was a rank virgin again. It was too good. Kal's mouth descended from his lips to his collar, setting off chills the whole way. He wasn't sure when Kal had undone his shirt, but his lips kept going down his bared chest, making Raul keen. Having his first time on the workbench in the house that he was renovating with Kal wasn't what Raul had fantasized about but it was too good to protest, especially as Kal reached Raul's pants and started undoing them.

"Oh fuck yes!" Raul gasped, clutching Kal's head for dear life.

Kal had slipped off his pants, and was doing the most incredible things with his mouth. He had never felt anything like it. Raul could hear himself crying out, hear himself begging for more, for faster, for Kal to take him and make him his. Kal started purring, distinctly purring around Raul's cock and it was more than he could bear. He came hard, crying out Kal's name and clutching his hair.

"Mmrrr," Kal purred, swallowing and eventually releasing Raul.

"Holy Mother of God," Raul breathed, trembling.

"Normally," Kal said with a throaty laugh, pulling Raul close and caressing his nearly naked body, "I'm not the top."

"Oh fuck," Raul groaned reverently, wrapping his legs around Kal's hips. "I think I just died and went to heaven."

Kal laughed, his very impressive erection pressing through his jeans against Raul. Maybe this was just a one-time thing. Maybe Kal would cut things off totally in 2006 when he was reunited with Lex, but for now, Raul was in Kal's arms. His cock was pressing against Raul's body. Maybe he'd never have Kal's heart in the way he wanted it, but he'd take what he could get and he would give Kal everything he had to give.

"You do remind me of him, you know," Kal murmured into Raul's ear. "Not to make you angry but to let you know that I would never have gone this far, let you stay close to me all these years, if I didn't see a reflection of Lex in you. I see parts of him in you and cannot help but want to keep you close."

"Then I'll have to work on helping you see me instead of him," Raul said, petting his cheek. "Now what was this about the great and impressive Kal-El being a bottom?"

Kal laughed out loud, pulling Raul into a deep, passionate kiss. Raul returned it with everything he had, happier than he'd been in ages. He was a kid, in love with an immortal alien who was going to cut their relationship off in 2006, but it didn't matter. There were twenty-eight long years before 2006, and he got to have Kal during that time. It was enough, especially as Kal lifted Raul and flew them into another room where there was a stack of nice soft drop clothes. Kal was his for now, and Raul would enjoy having him for as long as he could.

+++++

"There you are," Chloe said, tracking Clark down to his loft after Lana headed back into town. "So are you moping after loosing Lana? She said you dumped her for Lex. Doesn't sound like the Clark we all know and love. I thought you were going to obsess about Lana for the rest of your life."

Clark laughed, the sound rich with amusement. It sounded far too mature for the Clark she knew. Chloe stared at him, the faint uneasy feeling from dinner intensifying. She felt like she was seeing him for the first time. At dinner she'd been completely focused on her joy that he was back. She hadn't bothered with anything other than a fierce hug and then telling him what had happened while he was gone, but she should have. This wasn't her Clark. She wasn't sure it was physically the same person who had dropped her off in a hospital in Canada for frostbite a year and a half ago. She watched him looking at the pictures in his photo album as if seeing them for the first time in his life and reached an instantaneous decision.

"What the hell happened to Clark?" Chloe demanded. "Who are you? You're not Clark Kent and I know it!"

"You're quite right," the not-Clark said, looking at her fondly. "I'm not Clark Kent, but then I never was. I was always Kal-El. Clark's just an alias you know."

"Don't lie to me," Chloe said, hand feeling her purse for the little chunk of meteor rock in a tiny lead box she kept there. "You did something to Clark and I want to know where he is and what happened to him."

Kal-El set the photo album down and looked at her calmly. The calm was really freaking Chloe out. She backed off, hand slipping into her purse and grasping the lead box. Lana had seen something like a spaceship during the meteor shower, and other creatures with powers like Clark's had appeared during it only to disappear later. Chloe wasn't just about to admit to Lana that she'd been right about it. Lana wasn't her favorite person in the world and she wasn't reliable, too wrapped up in her own perfect little world. The one thing that Chloe knew from that whole mess was that that they all reacted to the meteor rock.

"Where is Clark Kent?" Chloe asked, trying to hide her trembling.

"Clark Kent went off for his training after he left you in the hospital," Kal-El said with a very sad smile. "He completed it. I'm what's left after that, Chloe. Am I such a horrible person that you'd use the meteor rock on me?"

"You're not Clark," Chloe repeated, swallowing hard. "How do we get you back to being Clark? Why aren't Martha and Jonathan out here doing something?"

Kal-El made a sound that was half sigh and half laugh, shaking his head at her.

"They trust me," Kal-El said, turning spectacular puppy eyes on Chloe. "Even if they don't understand what happened to me, they do trust me."

"Don't even try that on me," Chloe growled, pulling the box out of her bag. "If you're Kal-El and not Clark Kent, what are you going to do now?"

She expected to hear that he was going to take over the world. That was what all the aliens wanted to do and it was what Martha had said that Clark had wanted to do when he'd been reprogrammed by Jor-El the summer she'd been in hiding before testifying against Lionel. She was still amazed that Martha and Jonathan had told her about it after she got back from Canada, but apparently telling them about the Fortress had convinced them she was reliable.

"I'm going to college at Met U," Kal-El said, looking at her calmly, always calmly, what was with the calm? "I'm planning on majoring in journalism. There was a scholarship that I applied for and got. It covers the whole cost."

"If you've been at the Fortress for the last year and a half," Chloe demanded, "how the hell could you apply for a scholarship?"

"Why do you assume I was there the whole time?" Kal-El said, raising an eyebrow at her. "I wasn't allowed to contact anyone I knew, but that doesn't mean I was totally cut off from the world."

Chloe hesitated, fingers on the catch of her lead box. This was so weird. The others that had come with the meteor shower would have just attacked, no questions asked. They didn't talk. They didn't answer questions. They attacked and killed, took what they wanted. So, whatever this Kal-El was, he wasn't like them.

"Why journalism?" Chloe asked, studying Kal-El carefully.

"Because I want to make the world a better place," Kal-El said. "I want to tell the world about evil, help the police and justice system stamp it out. I want to tell the world about the good things, so that they're supported and strengthened. I want to what I can to help people, Chloe. I've seen what you've done with your writing, and while I'm not as good as you are, I want to try to do what I can."

Chloe hesitated, Kal-El's words tearing at her. This was Clark but it wasn't Clark. Clark never looked this calm or mature. Clark never would have dumped Lana. Clark most certainly wasn't gay, or in love with Lex—Lex!

"Why Lex?" Chloe demanded. "Tell me why you'd choose Lex of all the people in the world!"

Kal-El laughed, a delighted smile stretching across his face. The love and joy that shone through shocked her. She'd never seen Clark look this way. Not for her. Not for Lana. Not for Alicia. Not even for Martha or Jonathan. He lit up, almost literally, with his love for Lex.

"Because he's Lex," Kal-El said. "I've been obsessed with him ever since I met him. It's the way he looks, the way he acts, the way he thinks. I love how he talks, how he smells, how he moves. I've spent every minute since I rescued him from the Loeb River trying to figure out why he captivates my thoughts and the only thing I can come up with is that he's Lex."

"You're obsessed with him?" Chloe said, shocked.

"Just as obsessed as he is with me," Kal-El said with a resigned shrug. "The fact that it's a mutual obsession certainly helps. It'd be bad if it were one-sided. I can easily see one or the other of us tearing the world apart to get the other's attention."

Chloe leaned against the railing, frowning at him. He still hadn't moved. He was fast enough and strong enough that he could have taken her box of meteor rock easily. She wouldn't have seen him move. So why hadn't he acted?

"Are you immune to the meteor rock now?" Chloe asked, hazarding a guess.

"No." Kal-El made a rueful face, shrugging slightly.

"Then why haven't you taken it away?" Chloe asked, heart pounding faster.

"Because I trust you, Chlo," Kal-El said earnestly. "I know you don't trust me anymore, but I do trust you. You're my best friend, the one who helped me, protected me, taught me so much about what I want to do with my life. I trust you with my life."

Chloe whimpered, fingers flicking the box open in spite of her mind questioning. This had to be a trick! Kal-El shuddered as the meteor rock started glowing, but he didn't move. He didn't stand, didn't beg, and didn't say a word. The radiation was clearly hurting him, but he didn't do anything. Chloe bit her lip, staring at him.

"Are you really Clark?" Chloe asked, her voice shaking harder than Kal-El was.

"I was," Kal-El gasped, curling into a ball. "I'm not anymore. I'm sorry, Chloe. I had to grow up. I couldn't stay the same forever, not with my powers. I couldn't stay a spoiled brat my entire life."

Chloe snapped the box shut, shoved it into her bag and sighed. Her gut was saying to trust him, her mind was disagreeing and Chloe decided to listen to her gut. Normally it was right and her brain was wrong. She'd find proof one way or the other eventually. Kal breathed a deep sigh of relief once the box was shut, straightening up to study her with a puzzled expression.

"I'm not sure what I said to convince you," Kal said, head cocked to the side.

"Nothing specific," Chloe said with a shrug. "My gut just said to quit being a bitch and trust you. Now you gotta convince my brain."

"Let the questions begin," Kal laughed, shaking his head at her. "Just bear in mind that there's a lot I won't tell you. Not for a few years yet, anyway."

"There's a time-lock on your secrets?" Chloe asked, instantly fascinated.

"You could say that," Kal said, grinning mischievously. "Let just say there are plans in motion that I won't risk by talking about them too soon. I know you, Chlo. If I give you a hint, you'll keep digging until you find the whole thing and that'll destroy the plans, so I'm not saying a world about the plans. But you can still ask. I'll just say that I can't tell you yet."

Chloe grinned.

"Can you give me a date that you'll spill all?" Chloe asked, walking over to sit by his side on the battered old couch.

"No," Kal said, laughing. "It's event driven, not date driven. Sorry, try again."

Chloe laughed, hugging him. He hugged her back and despite the fact that he'd changed so much that he wasn't the same person anymore, it was like her Clark was back. Chloe smiled a little sadly into his chest. He was back and he'd dumped Lana, but she still didn't have a chance at him. How very typical of her life.

"So tell me about you and Lex," Chloe said once Kal let her go. "How'd he take your return and your change of personality?"

Kal laughed, throwing his head back and filling the loft with his laughter. This was right, Chloe thought, this was good. She laughed with him, swept up by his laughter. She settled into the couch, squirming until she found a spot that wasn't quite as lumpy, listening as Kal told her about his visit to Lex's office. At least he was back at last!

+++++

Kal whimpered under Antonius' lips, shivering in fear. Antonius sighed, pulling back from the tender kiss that he'd graced his young not-quite-lover with. Kal looked so apologetic, but his hands were locked onto the stone bench that they were sitting on. It was night, his father and his slaves had gone to bed, and they were well and truly alone. There was no reason for Kal's fear, other than his lack of trust in his control and his lack of trust in Antonius.

"You always panic when I kiss you," Antonius said, trying his best to keep the hurt from his voice.

"I'm sorry," Kal said, sounding and looking crushed.

"It's not something to be sorry about, Kal," Antonius said sadly. "Its just a matter of trust."

That made Kal look even more stricken, which made Antonius laugh ruefully. He sometimes wondered why he'd set himself the task of seducing his innocent Godling, but one look at his gorgeous body and beautiful face answered that question. How could he not want Kalel? He was stunning, perfect, and the sweetest boy Antonius had ever met.

"Will you do me a favor?" Antonius asked, smiling mischievously at him.

"Um, sure," Kal said, clearly puzzled.

"Put your hands behind your back," Antonius said, wondering if this little trick would work. "Clasp them there and then keep them there."

"What are you up to?" Kal asked, doing as he'd been asked.

"You'll see," Antonius said, standing in front of Kal. "Try and trust me, Kal. I cannot hurt you and with your hands behind your back, you cannot hurt me. Let me take care of everything and focus on keeping your hands clasped."

Kal gasped as Antonius swiftly straddled his lap. He wasn't going to let his Godling live in terror of touch for the rest of his immortal life. He needed to learn that he could be touched safely. He needed to learn that he could touch others safely. As many injuries as Antonius had been though during his military career, he knew how much pain he could handle and was confident that he could get Kal to stop before he was damaged.

"Y-you shouldn't," Kal whimpered as Antonius captured his face.

"I should," Antonius said, smiling at him. "I have no intention of taking you inside of me, my Godling. I want to tumble you over, kiss you until you loose all inhibition, and make you moan so loudly that we wake the household. I want to touch every part of you, fill your mouth with my tongue, your ass with my fingers and cock, and your brain with thoughts only of me. I want you, Kal. And I know that I am strong enough to endure your touch—once you calm down."

Kal blushed so vividly that Antonius could have sworn he was shining like the sun. Antonius grinned and proceeded to do as he'd said, kissing Kal until he shuddered and relaxed. He kept his hands firmly clasped behind his back, trembling from the effort after a few minutes. The cool night air was a wonderful change from the heat of the day. He let Kal's mouth go, kissing and caressing his way down his neck as his hands worked Kal's belt free and then pulled his tunic up and off.

Antonius smiled at the golden perfection that was revealed. This really was his favorite erotic dream come to life. Kal blushed at the way Antonius looked at him, trembling slightly. Antonius didn't waste words, as words always got Kal thinking instead of honestly reacting. He pushed Kal back onto the bench, knowing his Godling wouldn't mind the hard stone. Kal clasped his hands behind his head, whimpering as Antonius stripped off his own tunic.

"So beautiful," Antonius breathed, running fingers down Kal's belly and getting a slight shiver from him.

He smiled and used his nails the next time, getting a gasp and moan. Definitely firm touches for his Godling; gentle touches didn't do anything for him. Antonius kissed, licked and bit his way to Kal's nipples, chuckling at his strangled gasp when he nipped them hard. Kal's eyes were wide with shock, but no pain. Obviously he hadn't known that they could be so sensitive. He continued biting his way down Kal's body, loving the soft-firm muscles of his lover's body. He was perfect, completely perfect in every way, other than a tiny scar on his rib cage that Antonius had always been puzzled by. He'd seen it many times in the baths but never asked.

"I was stabbed," Kal said quietly as Antonius' fingers lingered there a second too long. "It was with a knife that can hurt me. I was really lucky to survive."

"I am glad that you did survive," Antonius breathed, kissing the little scar lovingly before moving on to Kal's impressive erection.

Kal groaned as Antonius sucked his cock into his mouth. It was as perfect as the rest of him. Kal's legs trembled in arousal as he fought against bucking into Antonius' mouth. Antonius tongued the full length of his cock, and then rammed it deep into his mouth, as hard as he was comfortable taking it. Kal gasped, horrified, but Antonius held his legs, not letting him move, not letting him flee. Three more plunges and Kal was whimpering. A few more and he was thrusting gently up into Antonius' mouth. Apparently the demonstration of how hard Antonius could take it had reassured him that he could move and respond without breaking Antonius. It didn't take long before Kal gasped a warning and came hard. The taste was slightly different, a little sweeter, but nothing too out of the ordinary. It reassured him that his Godling truly was a man as he said so often.

"Mmm," Antonius moaned, blinking as Kal started purring. "You're…purring."

"Felt so good," Kal said, the purr stuttering and then strengthening as Antonius stroked his semi-hard member. "Oh God, Antonius!"

"Spread your legs," Antonius whispered, pushing Kal's legs apart and scooting him down the bench enough that his ass was exposed.

Kal cried out and then clapped his hands over his mouth as Antonius licked from his cock down to his ass. The touch of his tongue there seemed overwhelmingly arousing to Kal, so Antonius kept licking, getting his lover far wetter than he'd initially intended. It had been just to moisten the tender location prior to loosening him up, but Kal's reactions were so strong that Antonius kept at it until Kal started begging for more in a broken whisper that had Antonius' cock throbbing with need.

"How about this?" Antonius whispered, sliding a finger inside of Kal.

He'd been half afraid that Kal would be too strong here for Antonius to enter him, but he wasn't. If anything, it was far easier than he'd expected. Kal opened up smoothly for him, groaning loudly. Antonius grinned, sliding a second finger in after a minute, then a third. Kal panted, his body flushed even in the dim moonlight.

"Please," Kal whimpered, tears in his eyes. "I never…didn't think I could…but…want you! Please, Antonius!"

"If you think you're ready," Antonius said, pushing his fingers as deeply inside as he could.

Kal groaned, back arching as his hips rose to meet Antonius' hand. He nodded urgently, hands fluttering uncertainly until he clasped them behind his head again, making that magnificent torso covered with muscles ripple. Antonius smiled, licking Kal's cock before using saliva to wet his cock. Kal's breath caught as Antonius set himself and then leaned over, kissing Kal passionately. He would have loved to have Kal hold him while he took his lover's virginity, but he knew the trust didn't stretch that far yet. There would be time for being held in the future.

He pushed into Kal's body, groaning with him, into his mouth. Antonius shuddered at how hot his Godling was. He was always warm outside but his insides were even hotter. Kal was whimpering and purring again, desperate, needy little sounds as he struggled not to buck against Antonius' cock. The sounds were enough to get Antonius moving. He started gentle but once again Kal barely seemed to notice it, so Antonius began fucking him as hard as he could, pounding into his lover's body with all the force that he could bring to bear. He reared up, grabbing Kal's thighs, pushing them back towards his stomach so that he had better access.

"Oh fuck!" Kal gasped, head rearing back in a sudden move that cracked the very end of the bench off.

Antonius kept pounding into him, not worried about his Godling or about himself. It felt too good for worries. Worries were for later. It was time for making his beautiful Kal enjoy himself so much he came harder than Jupiter himself. It took so little time before Kal gasped and came again, clamping down on Antonius. It was too much to resist. His Kal was too damned sexy, too perfect, and his body too hot and wet. Antonius came hard, crying out with Kal as he came and filled his Godling's body with his seed.

"Oh Jupiter," Antonius panted, collapsing on top of Kal once they were both done.

Kal's legs loosely looped around Antonius' hips and his arms tentatively wrapped around his shoulders. Antonius smiled, kissing Kal's chest. He wouldn't have thought that Kal felt the kiss but he chuckled, kissing the top of Antonius' head fondly. They lay together for a moment and then Kal's uncomfortable squirm made Antonius pull out, letting his Godling sigh and relax.

"I broke the bench," Kal said sadly. "I told you it was dangerous."

"Oh, you're deadly, my beautiful one," Antonius teased, grinning at Kal as he turned hurt eyes on him. "Every bench in the house lives in fear of you. But not me. I do not fear you, your strength, or giving you more pleasure than mortals should experience. I love you and want to share everything with you. You need to learn to trust yourself, which comes only from experience."

Kal laughed quietly, pulling Antonius close, still blushing faintly. Antonius kissed him, so pleased that Kal actually held him this time. He might still be afraid of himself but he had a better idea of what Antonius could bear.

"Well, if trusting myself comes from experience," Kal said, grinning mischievously, "doesn't that imply I should get a lot more experience at this?"

"It certainly does," Antonius laughed, delighted. "You just have to wait about five minutes or so for this mere mortal to catch his breath. Then I'll give you as much experience as you can handle."

 

+++++

"So," Chloe was saying as they headed into the Watchtower, "this will probably be a bit of a shock to you, but um…I kind of have…powers."

Kal blinked and looked at Chloe, letting her think that he was surprised. He knew, of course. He'd watched her over the last two years and knew perfectly well that she had them. Granted, he'd only been 'back' for about six months now, so he wasn't supposed to know. Just as he wasn't supposed to know that she was taking him to see the brand new Justice League, led by her one-time-only-boyfriend Oliver Queen. J'onn had kept him up to date on what they were up to as he tried to curb the worst of their excesses, most of which were brought on by youth and sheer exuberance. Of course, all they had to do to get him off track was bring out the Oreos, so he wasn't always successful.

"Powers?" Kal asked, making Chloe blush. "You mean like me?"

"Well, no," Chloe admitted with a sigh. "I'm meteor affected. There was this terrible car accident with Lois and me, and she…she died, Clark. I brought her back to life again. I was dead for about twelve hours but I came back. I can heal people."

"Wow," Clark said, beaming at her. "That's way cooler than my powers, Chlo!"

Chloe laughed, looking so relieved that Kal knew he'd said exactly the right thing. She was still quite nervous about his 'new' personality, but she'd been calming down a lot around him in the last couple of months. Going back to school had reassured her more than anything else that he wasn't going to go off and conquer the world. Being his normal rather dorky self had helped. He was careful not to let his true self show too much around her. Given the persona he was attempting to adopt as he went through school, it was good practice.

"So why are we here?" Kal asked, gesturing around the elevator taking them up to the top floor.

"I have some friends that I've been working with," Chloe said, going so serious that he knew something major had to be up, "and they wanted to talk to you. We've set up a team of 'special' people and we're trying to make the world a better place, as much as we can."

"Um, is this to ask me to join up or something else?" Kal asked, looking at Chloe.

"Both," Chloe said, swallowing hard. "I think you'd be a great addition to the team, Clark, I really do. The guys think so too, but there's something else that we needed to talk to you about so it was easier to just bring you over and talk to you directly. I don't want to say anything until we get there, since there's a lot to discuss. Is that okay?"

Kal nodded as the doors opened and Chloe led him into a very nicely appointed penthouse. He knew that they had a teleporter up to the satellite overhead, but he didn't expect that they would take him there today. He was an unknown, for all that he'd been secretly bankrolling them as David Marcellus, along with Oliver. They were there waiting for him, all except for J'onn: Oliver Queen, Bart Allen, Arthur Curry, Victor Stone, and Dinah Lance. Victor's face lit up when he saw Kal. Kal and Lex had rescued him from Lionel's experiments a few months back, and then set him free to live his life as he willed. He knew AC from a military experiment gone wrong that they'd stopped in Crater Lake, another time that they'd blocked Lionel's new warped plans. Bart he'd met before he'd gone away for his training, though the young man had grown a lot since then. The only ones that he didn't officially know were Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance. Of course, he'd met Oliver as David Marcellus, but apparently Oliver hadn't keyed in on the resemblance, which wasn't too surprising. Clark Kent in his flannel and jeans wasn't much like David Marcellus in his designer Italian suits and panic-attacked cowering.

"Thanks Chloe," Oliver said, smiling at her as they came in.

"No problem," Chloe said, smiling at Oliver just a little smugly. "Told you I'd have no problems bringing him in here. Clark, this is Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance, and…"

She stopped as Kal waved at her, grinning at AC, Bart and Victor. They were grinning back at him, Bart bouncing like he wanted to zoom over and slug Kal, which he probably did. He wasn't much for hugging guys, especially ones he suspected (or maybe knew) were gay, but that didn't stop him from wanting to say 'hi'.

"I know most of them and I trust you, Chlo," Kal said, making Chloe beam at him. "It's good to see you guys again, and to meet you two."

Oliver looked a little perplexed as AC, Victor and Bart all came over to play-punch his shoulder, shake his hand, and welcome him. Dinah had a possessive hand on Oliver's arm, so obviously at some point someone had told her that he was gay. Either that or she was laying claim so Chloe would leave Oliver alone.

"You know them?" Oliver asked once the welcoming was done.

"Yes," Clark said with a wry grin. "I met Bart several years ago, back in high school. I encountered AC recently when Lex and I were stopping one of Lionel's plots at Crater Lake. And Lex and I got Victor out of one of Lionel's secret labs about three months ago, right?"

"Yup," Victor said smiling at Clark. "I don't think I would have survived if it weren't for the two of you."

Oliver nodded, his expression making it clear that he was noting that, though something obviously puzzled him about what Clark had said. They went into a living room area, which was just a sunken spot with couches in a square. There was a new box of Oreos in with the other munchies on the coffee table, so obviously J'onn would be showing up at some point. That would be interesting, given that J'onn always had a hard time seeing Kal as anyone other than his mentor on Earth.

"The reason we brought you here is to discuss something very important," Oliver began, leaning forward to try and spear Kal with a serious look. He was the same age as Lex, and thus Kal was sure that he thought he was impressing Kal with his maturity and seriousness, but after all that he'd been through and living with Lex for six months, Oliver seemed rather young and immature.

"What is it?" Kal asked, looking back at him calmly.

"Do you really know everything that Lex is up to?" Oliver asked, making everyone go still. "We're fairly sure that he's experimenting in things that he shouldn't be."

"Well, he gave me access to all of his money, files, projects and companies," Kal said thoughtfully, with a little confused frown, "so I'm pretty sure that I do know everything that he's up to. Why?"

Oliver looked startled at that comment. Chloe looked dumbfounded. Bart was fidgeting, AC looked uncomfortable as he sipped his water and Victor smiled at Kal as if he was fooling himself. Kal just waited, content to see what they said and did.

"After what he's done to Crater Lake and Victor," Oliver started to say slowly, stopping at Kal's frown.

"That was Lionel, not Lex," Kal interrupted Oliver.

"He got his money from Lex," Oliver said, "thus Lex is the one ultimately responsible for his father's actions."

"Ah, no he didn't," Kal disagreed, blinking at him. "Lex left his father with precisely $2.47 but within three days after his final release from Belle Reve Lionel was buying multi-million dollar companies. Neither of us has been able to figure out who's bankrolling Lionel, but it isn't Lex. Lex is still trying to get his father thrown back in Belle Reve or preferably into prison for his crimes."

"Then where did he get the money from?" Oliver asked, exchanging looks with the rest of his team. "We assumed it was Lex when we couldn't find any other source."

Kal shook his head a definitive no. It had been driving Lex crazy for months as he'd been unable to determine the source of his father's sudden wealth. If Genevieve Teague was still alive then she would have been the likely suspect, but she was dead. Lex had confirmed it right after the first multi-million dollar purchase. David Marcellus and Raul had been working on it, but so far they'd been blocked, too. Kal was nearly willing to head to the Fortress and use the AI's resources to track it down. Lionel was an even worse loose cannon than he'd been before Clark had been sent back in time.

"It's not Lex," Kal said. "Lex has done everything legally possible to get his father committed or indicted, plus a few illegal things that I'm officially ignoring. Lionel's money came from somewhere but neither of us has been able to determine where. Honestly, if you could find out where, we'd both be delighted. The man has to be stopped but nothing we've done has been effective so far."

They all stopped as the door opened and J'onn J'onzz walked in. He paused as he saw Kal, the surprise and recognition so clear that it made everyone else look at them in confusion. Kal reached onto the table and grabbed an Oreo holding it out to J'onn. He grinned and came to sit down next to Kal. He took Kal's Oreo and promptly took the package out from under Bart's hands, settling it in his lap to keep it safe. He did give one to Chloe who grinned and stuck her tongue out at Bart.

"You two know each other, too?" Oliver asked, surprised.

"Very much so," Kal said with a laugh. "He was a friend of my birth father and he's been watching over me ever since I was a child."

"You're not telling them who you really are, are you?" J'onn asked in Kryptonian.

He was always reserved and wary, but it was worse than normal around the others that didn't know Kal's many secrets. J'onn knew most of Kal's secrets and did a very good job keeping them secret. He had said many times over the last couple of decades that it was the least he could do for all that Kal had done to help him once he'd been stranded on Earth after his people died. Helping J'onn through that loss had been hard, but Kal was grateful for the friend he'd gotten out of it.

"No, not yet," Kal replied in Kryptonian with a grin. "It's not time yet. We still haven't completely dealt with Brainiac and I've got the whole Marcellus issue to deal with first."

Oliver waved at the two of them, looking thoroughly alarmed and annoyed that they were talking in a language he didn't understand. Chloe was frowning, but she was also calm, nibbling on her Oreo. The others just looked confused.

"Wait, what were you two saying?" Oliver demanded. "What language is that? How long have you two known each other?"

"And why talk in tongues, dude?" Bart asked, working his way steadily through the chips while eyeing J'onn's Oreos.

"Well, it's not like I get many chances to practice my birth language," Kal said with a shrug. "J'onn's about the only person who speaks Kryptonian besides me. Given that we're both the last of our races, we're a lot alike so it's…well, sort of a habit to talk to him that way. Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."

Oliver sat back into his couch abruptly, staring at Kal and then at J'onn. J'onn looked back at him, his best stone-face on. Kal did his best Puzzled-Clark expression, as if he couldn't figure out what in the world was wrong. Chloe didn't raise an eyebrow at it, which made Kal secretly happy. He was getting better at pretending to be Clark, obviously. Pity it had taken six months to get to that point.

"You're…?" Oliver asked, waving a finger between the two of them.

"An alien," Kal confirmed, nodding.

+++++

J'onn wasn't sure what an obvious Kryptonian was doing on Earth. They'd been more or less banned from Earth for about a generation, due to all the trouble that the renegades caused and the whole mess with Zod. This one didn't look like he was causing any trouble whatsoever, but he felt obliged to follow him. He was an Intergalactic Enforcer, after all. It was his job, just as his job as John Jones was to be a cop.

The Kryptonian finished browsing the papers at the newsstand, bought one and then walked on down the street, his suit a plain, discrete blue that blended in well with the other suits the men wore. He wore his fedora high on his head, not hiding his face like a man up to something. That he was taller and more attractive than them wasn't really noticed, other than the occasional admiring glance from women and the somewhat envious glances of occasional men. The Chicago gangsters looked at J'onn and backed off, knowing him as a cop. They eyed the Kryptonian as he walked but didn't make any moves to mug him.

He stopped for coffee, apple pie and a club sandwich at a Five and Dime diner, taking a booth by the windows where he read his paper and calmly ate. J'onn sat at the counter, drinking soda and eating a piece of cherry pie. When the Kryptonian left, taking his paper with him, J'onn didn't follow, but he did watch the man in the mirror behind the bar as he headed into an apartment building across the way. He got mail out of one box, and then headed upstairs. The top right apartment lights went on at just about the right time for it to be the Kryptonian's apartment.

J'onn wasn't sure what was setting him off. He kept an eye on the Kryptonian over the next couple of weeks. His name was Addison Smith. He worked an average job as an office worker. His job appeared to involve frequent travel to Europe. He had no girlfriends and didn't seem to have any romantic entanglements that would have dictated a response on J'onn's part. He didn't break the law in any way, either Earth law or galactic law. He seemed to have completely integrated into human society and didn't use his powers at all that J'onn could see.

"You know, if you're interested you could always just make a pass at me," Smith murmured one afternoon as he passed J'onn in a different diner. "Not that Martians normally are interested in that sort of thing."

J'onn refused to react to that but felt his blood run cold that he'd been found out that easily. He paid for his coffee and followed Smith outside, locating him easily up on top of a building. J'onn followed, not using his powers to fly up. The stairs were fast enough. Smith was waiting for him calmly, with a gentle smile on his face.

"Why are you here?" J'onn demanded, ready for a fight despite Smith's apparent gentleness.

"I've been here all along," Smith said with a shrug. "I'm the Historian."

"Who?" J'onn asked, confused.

He'd been on Earth for about three months now. It had been a struggle at first adjusting to this strange new world. He'd found a lot of comfort in being John Jones, in fighting crime as he had at home. He had no way to go home yet, but he was confident that in time he would. The Kryptonians had been in contact with his people for thousands of years, slowly guiding them into Galactic citizenship, as they intended to guide Humanity once they were capable of accepting the idea of other intelligent species being 'out there'. They clearly weren't yet. Eventually he'd find a Kryptonian who could help him get home, even if he had to wait until his young friend Jor-El came to Earth. He'd worked occasionally with the ruling El family, forming a friendship with young Jor-El the times that he'd visited Mars. He was still quite young and would probably be coming for his Coming of Age journey in about five to ten years.

"I was sent back in time by my father," Smith said with a sad look in his eyes, "for defying his will. I've been on Earth for around 2,500 years now. I've got about fifty years to go before I get back to my time."

"You're…that old?" J'onn asked, hope flaring in his chest. Someone with that level of experience must have some way to help him. "Do you have a way for me to get home? Back to Mars?"

"I'm afraid not," Smith said sadly. "I'm strictly limited to Earth. I'm not allowed to go elsewhere, nor do I have access to any technology that would allow me to leave Earth in any fashion."

"Damn," J'onn sighed, studying Smith more closely.

It had been worth the chance, but having hope dashed yet again when it seemed in his grasp hurt. He desperately wanted to go home, even though he knew everything there was most likely gone. He was almost certainly the last of his race, alone in the universe. Smith came over and offered a hand to him, smiling gently.

"My name is Kal-El," Smith said, "or Addison Smith or Giorgio Marcellus, depending on which identity I'm using at the time. You are?"

"John Jones," J'onn said, shaking his hand and liking the firmness of his grip. "Or J'onn J'onzz if I'm at home."

"Pleased to meet you," Kal-El said, grinning. "So would you like to come by my apartment and talk about things? I have Oreos."

J'onn laughed, nodding his head. Kal-El must have been checking him out at the same time he was investigating Kal-El. Oreos were definitely his weakness. He often wondered how he could bring a supply of them home with him when he finally got to go back. In the depths of the night, he sometimes worried that they were addictive for Martians, but once dawn came he was convinced that it was just a fear, nothing more. They went and there were Oreos and they were good.

Kal-El was a calm, reasonable, supportive listener who seemed perfectly happy to listen to J'onn pour out his worries and fears about his home. He couldn't offer much help with getting J'onn back where he belonged, but he did promise to help J'onn integrate into human society. Having someone to talk to about humanity and all their strange beliefs and quirks helped. Having someone to mentor him, comfort him during his bouts of homesickness helped even more. It was like having his father back only more so.

"I'm glad I spotted you that day," J'onn commented a few months later. "I'm not sure that I would have survived this long without your help. Earth's so different and the culture is so odd compared to home that I'm not sure I would have been able to blend in. They're nothing like the warriors I'm used to."

"Why do you think it was an accident we met?" Kal asked, grinning at him. "I'd been looking for you ever since you arrived here. The AI that monitors the Earth couldn't tell me where you were precisely, but it did narrow it down to one city. I try and help the Travelers who come to Earth as much as I can. It's the least I can do while I wait for time to pass."

"Is that all you do?" J'onn asked, not surprised in the least that it had been planned. Everything he'd seen of Kal since he met him said that the man never did anything without a plan. It was an admirable trait that J'onn was trying to develop.

"No," Kal said with a merry twinkle in his eyes. "I have lots of other things I do and many, many plans. It's the only way to survive when you're functionally immortal. You need more than just passing friendships with people who will be gone in a few decades."

J'onn nodded, agreeing with that. He'd seen it already in his friendships with the humans in his squad. He wasn't sure how he'd endure loosing them, either in the line of duty or to old age. He thought old age would be worse. J'onn looked at Kal, chuckling softly.

"Well, at least I have one friend who isn't going to go away," J'onn said.

"It makes all the difference in the world," Kal agreed, looking sad but determined. "We all need our anchors."

+++++

Kal hummed as he headed into Lex's penthouse, unable to hold back the grin that he had a key, was permitted and no one commented about it anymore. After so long waiting, it seemed like a dream that he was actually living with Lex. He was still living his double life as both David Marcellus and Clark Kent, but it wouldn't be for much longer. Pretty soon his life here would be his life and that would be a wonderful thing. Though he did feel bad about Raul…

"You're back," Lex said, looking up from some papers he'd brought home from the office. "How'd your visit with Chloe go?"

"Oh, it was more of a visit with the Justice League," Kal said shrugging and tossing his jacket on the back of the couch. He moved the papers away and pulled Lex into his arms. "Oliver really doesn't like you, does he?"

Lex had been smiling, moving to straddle Kal's lap and kiss him, but he pulled back and gave Clark a very cold look. Kal knew that they had history between them, as he'd been keeping track of Lex from a distance while he was returning to the present, but he'd never gotten so intense in his surveillance that he knew exactly what had happened. The school they'd shared had been secretive enough that there was little chance of his getting the inside information without tipping his hand, which he had been unwilling to do. He wouldn't jeopardize his chance for reuniting with Lex in the future by saving him in the past.

"What did he say?" Lex asked, voice brittle with anger.

"Oh, the usual," Kal said with a shrug. "You're responsible for every evil in Western Civilization, especially your father. You fund bad, terrible experiments. You're dangerous. You're secretive. You're richer than he is, more powerful and worst of all, you're bald."

Lex had been glaring up until the last word, at which point he burst out laughing. Lex ran a hand over his scalp in a move rather reminiscent of the gesture that Ollie had used to emphasize his hair. Kal grinned and pet Lex's cheek. He'd take his bald Lex over everyone else in the world every day. Unfortunately, Oliver seemed to be afflicted with a bad case of terminal competition, which explained why Dinah had been clinging to his arm repeatedly over the discussion.

"He did do a lovely imitation of someone being hit in the back of the head with a board about three times," Kal said, grinning. "Couldn't quite wrap his head around some of the concepts I threw at him."

"Such as?" Lex asked, kicking his shoes off to straddle Kal finally.

"Oh, that you'd given me access to everything," Kal said thoughtfully as he started unbuttoning Lex's shirt. "And that I'm quite gay and we've been living together for months. He thought we weren't yet. Oh, and the alien thing. They all kind of got that expression when J'onn showed up and I talked to him in Kryptonian. I have to admit I laughed at them at that point. The expressions were priceless, especially Ollie's."

He imitated Ollie's expression and Lex started snickering. Lex leaned in, catching Kal's face and kissing him tenderly. In the beginning, right after Kal had returned, all of their interactions had been urgent, fast and furious, as if they both were afraid that it would be over any second and they had to get everything they could while it lasted. Six months later, they'd begun to relax enough to be able to take their time. They'd even managed to have an argument without it being the end of the world, though it had been touch and go for a while.

"Mrrr," Kal purred, smiling at Lex when he let go.

"God, I love that purr so damned much," Lex said, voice hitching a little.

They kissed, slowly undressing each other and caressing each other's bodies. Kal loved this, this fragile life they were starting to build together. He had no doubt that they'd manage to make it work over the long term, but right now everything was slightly hesitant as they felt out the edges of how they'd be together for eternity. This afternoon it was slow, gentle and loving, Lex worshiping Kal's body just as much as Kal was worshiping his. Even their mutual orgasms, while suitably explosive, seemed gentle. Kal held Lex with his arms and legs, loving the feel of this man on and in him.

"So Ollie thinks I'm putting Dad up to it," Lex commented after they'd rested long enough for goose bumps to form on Lex's back and arms.

"Mmm-hmm," Clark said, shrugging at Lex's glare. "I offered to let him have access to the stuff you've shown me but I don't think he believed me."

"Of course not," Lex said, sitting up and pulling his clothes back on. "He wouldn't trust someone with that so why would anyone else?"

Kal chuckled, pulling his jeans back on. He didn't bother with his T-shirt or flannel shirt. He wasn't cold and Lex liked looking at his body. Lex cuddled back up once he was in his slacks and shirt, sighing happily as Kal purred and wrapped his arms around him.

"Any new leads on where your Dad's getting his funding?" Kal asked, kissing the crown of Lex's head.

"No," Lex sighed. "Any on yours?"

"Nope," Kal sighed. "I'm thinking of visiting the Fortress and tracking this down once and for all. Seems like it might be the only way to find out. The Archives should have a record of it. You and Lionel are both monitored because of your association with me. It should be in the Archives."

Lex looked at Kal, puzzled, pulling back ever so slightly.

"Why haven't you done it before then?" Lex asked, frowning. His eyes were like lasers as he studied Kal.

"Because I'm worried that it'll drive me crazy," Kal admitted with a tiny shrug. "I took Jor-El out of the system, so I'll have to interface my mind directly with the Fortress' systems. After loosing my mind once, I really don't want to do it again, especially not when I just got you back."

+++++

"He's quite harmless," Alexa said as she led the new boy to Grandfather's room with his lunch tray. "He's sweet, kind, gentle and as dotty as they come. He'll ask you when 'Lex' is getting home. Just say that he's busy and will be back when he's done working. That always makes him start talking about how he understands and how much he appreciates any time that 'Lex' can spend with him."

"Why keep him here?" the new boy asked, shuddering. "The Gods cursed him. Shouldn't you throw him out to die?"

Alexa gave him a fierce look that made the boy flinch and cringe. She always got this from the new ones. They were so steeped in the old traditions, the ones that said that insanity was a curse from the Gods, that they couldn't see what was right in front of them until they saw him.

"Not at all," Alexa growled, stopping to glare at him. "Grandfather protected us and took care of us. He helped us and made our family successful. Right now he's not doing well and hasn't been since my grandmother was my age, but he is getting better, bit by bit."

"How old is he?" the new boy asked, eyes going wide.

"No one knows," Alexa shrugged, opening the door to Grandfather's room and smiling at him. "He doesn't age, you see."

Grandfather was sitting on a padded bench by the window, looking out at the garden. He rarely went outside since he'd gone crazy, but he still loved the sunshine and loved seeing the garden. Alexa made an extra effort to make sure that there were flowers in his room, and that the garden outside was well tended. His skin looked golden in the sunshine, nearly making him sparkle. His black hair had gotten quite long again, falling well past his shoulders. Alexa would have to cut it sometime soon, as he fretted when he noticed that it had gotten too long. He always worried that 'Lex' wouldn't like him with long hair.

"Good afternoon, Grandfather," Alexa said, coming over to touch his shoulder. Sometimes he reacted to her, sometimes he didn't.

"Is Lex here yet?" Grandfather asked, blinking and then smiling at her somewhat vacantly.

"No, not yet," Alexa said, taking his hands and having him come over to the table where the new boy had laid out the tray of food. "He's working but he sent you lunch. Come and eat. He wouldn't be happy if you didn't eat the lunch he sent."

She got Grandfather settled, huffing as a problem in the kitchen pulled her away. She gave the new boy orders to make sure that Grandfather ate, and then hurried away to take care of the problem. That problem led her to another, then it was time to deal with some supplies coming in, and half a dozen things blocked her getting back to make sure Grandfather was all right. By the time she got back to his room, one of the girls was walking out with his dinner, all of which had been eaten. That was unusual. Grandfather normally lost interest in food halfway through his meals. The girl was wide-eyed and almost spluttering.

"He talked to me!" she said, staring up at Alexa. "He asked my name and what year it was and never once mentioned 'Lex'!"

"What?" Alexa asked, astonished. "What happened?"

"I don't know, Mistress," the girl said, staring back at the room. "It's quite startling, though."

Alexa patted her shoulder and sent her on her way back to the kitchen, opening the door cautiously. The room was getting dark, but there was still a golden glow around Grandfather. He always managed to find the spot where the sun lingered the longest. He looked up when she entered, frowning faintly at her and cocking his head as if trying to remember who she was. Alexa's breath caught in her throat. She'd never seen him this coherent before, though he was obviously not sane yet.

"Do I know you?" Grandfather asked.

"I know you," Alexa said, coming over to sit opposite him on the bench. "My great-great-great-grandfather was Antonius. I've been caring for you ever since my mother died a few years ago."

"I seem to remember seeing your face a lot," Grandfather said, nodding slowly. "How long has it been since I went crazy?"

"About a hundred and fifty years," Alexa said, unsure if it was a good idea to say it, but how else could she answer? She'd already said that she was a descendant of his lover Antonius. "What happened to snap you out of it?"

Grandfather blinked at the news that it had been that long, nodding slowly. He sighed, looking out over the garden with a puzzled frown. She waited, wondering what was going through his head. She always wondered. She knew from the stories her mother told her that Grandfather was supposed to be some sort of traveler, someone from another world or from the Gods who had been cast out and was now trapped here, waiting to get back to where he belonged. She knew that loosing her grandmother, the last tie to his lover Antonius, had been what had broken his mind. But she still had no idea how he would look at the world or what sort of person he was under his insanity.

"I think…that someone said something mean," Grandfather said slowly. "He…I think it was a he, not sure…said that…he didn't know why Lex would want to come back when I was all he had to come back to. That I was pathetic and weak and hopeless, so why would Lex bother?"

"What?" Alexa snapped, so horrified that she bolted to her feet. The new boy was in for the beating of his life for this! She didn't like beating the slaves, especially the new ones who hadn't settled in, but this sort of behavior could not be tolerated.

"What?" Grandfather said, blinking at her in surprise. "He was right. Lex wouldn't want to be around someone insane. He's always hated insanity. After his father tried to drive him crazy and he spent that summer marooned on the island, Lex has always been very nervous about insanity. He was right, whoever it was that said that. Lex wouldn't want to see me like this. He'd feel bad for me but he'd avoid me like the plague."

"So…that's all that it took to bring you back?" Alexa said, staring at him.

Grandfather blinked again, studying her absently, and then chuckled. He shook his head no, a wry smile on his lips. Alexa sat next to him again, smoothing her apron over her tunic. He reached over and patted her hand absently. She knew Grandfather was supposed to be incredibly strong—mother had told her stories that he'd picked up a boulder and moved it around like it was nothing—but his touch was so gentle that she found it hard to believe.

"No, I'm not all the way back," Grandfather said with a tired sigh. "I think that will take a while. I think I've been slowly groping my way back all this time, but whoever he was did a wonderful job giving me a slap that made me wake up. It feels like waking up, like pulling free from a very deep sleep. I've still got the edges of it clinging to my mind, but I think that the more I do the better I'll get."

"Well if that's so," Alexa said with a somewhat wobbly smile, "maybe tomorrow you can go out to the garden. Mother said you used to love gardening."

"My father, my adoptive father, was a farmer," Grandfather said, smiling so brightly at her that it was like the sun had reversed its course and come back up to light the nearly dark room. "I'd love to spend some time in the garden. Plants and sunshine always make me feel better."

Alexa nodded, standing back up. Grandfather stood with her, somehow larger now that he was coming back to sanity. She was tall for a girl but she only came up to his chin. He straightened his shoulders—something she'd never seen him do before—and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"I don't want whoever said that to me to be punished," Grandfather declared, eyes quite sane if very protective. "I want him assigned to take care of me. He'll probably hate it, but I think that hate, that resistance, will be good for me. I…need it. I need something to fight against, as well as something to fight for."

"If that's what you want," Alexa said, astonished. She sighed and shrugged at his firm nod. "All right, I'll have him brought to you in the morning. I don't like that he's not going to be punished for being so rude, but we'll do as you wish, Grandfather."

"Call me Kal," Grandfather said, smiling that brilliant smile again. "It's my name. Kal-El."

"Kal," Alexa said, heart fluttering a little.

She laughed when he gave her a goodnight hug and sighed once she had closed the door to his room. It was such a pity that he wasn't interested in girls. She'd never thought of him that way before, but seeing the glimpses of who he really was, she couldn't help but wish that things had been different and she was his Lex.

+++++

Kal hummed as he hammered on the sword he was forging. It changed from bright cherry red to duller red as he worked, his hammer sending out sparks filled with cast off impurities every time he struck. There wasn't as much joy in creating swords as in creating more useful tools like plows but it was better than letting the village be overrun. Most houses in town had at least a couple of his swords by now. Of course, because he'd started making Damascus steel swords instead of the more normal iron ones people had started coming from farther away for his work. He was a little afraid that he was going to cause the destruction he was trying to prevent but there wasn't much to be done about it. This generation's versions of the perennial invaders were coming and all he could do was arm people and teach them how to make the Damascus steel the way that he did.

It wasn't a difficult sort of technology, just time consuming and tricky at points. His apprentices kept turning the various sorts of metals and trace ingredients used to make Damascus steel into magic formulas complete with chants and special gestures that had to be carried out, much to his amusement. He supposed that it was a sort of magic, though Kal thought it was Lex that made it magical. He was so glad that he'd listened all those years ago to Lex's lectures on where Damascus steel came from and the speculations on how it was made. It had taken a lot of work to figure out how to do it with the primitive tools he had available, but Kal had plenty of time. Despite that, if it hadn't been for his Kryptonian abilities he'd never have succeeded as quickly as he had. His X-ray vision was vital to his success rate at making Damascus steel.

"Uncle Kal!" little Valia called, running up the path from town waving to him.

"Hey, little bird," Kal called to her, studying his blade with X-ray vision and nodding that it was ready for a quenching. "What's the rush?"

"You have guests," Valia said, stopping at the door and staring at the clouds of steam coming from his trough of water. "They said to say that they're from your home."

"Indeed," Kal said, raising an eyebrow. "Well, have your Mama put on the kettle for tea and I'll be there as quick as I can."

"Can I have tea too?" Valia asked, bouncing on her toes.

"Ask your Mama, little bird, not me," Kal said, laughing.

She grinned, nodded and ran back down the path to her family's home on the far side of town. Kal smiled at her retreating back, and then sighed. He could remember so many other children who had done much the same thing over the centuries. The sad part was that he was fairly certain that he'd do this again and again until he returned to his proper time. The passage of the years and the many generations of children he'd watched grow into adults and then had ushered into the grave weighed on him at times. His apprentices took over, taking the half complete sword and closing up the forge. Kal headed home, taking his time. He was in no hurry. His 'guests' might be in a hurry but Kal had far too many centuries to go before he got home.

"They're out back," Verina said, nodding at the back door with her lips pressed tight together. She obviously didn't approve of Kal's visitors. She rarely approved of outsiders but this seemed like a higher level of disapproval than normal.

"Rude?" Kal asked, taking the tea, hearty bread, and chunk of cheese she had prepared.

"Very," Verina sniffed. "I sent Valia to my sister's house. I don't want her associating with them."

Kal chuckled, kissed Verina's cheek and headed out the back door. Verina smiled and went out front to sweep the walk. Normally she would have hovered around the back door to see if they wanted anything, so his guests must have been truly rude for her to decide to ignore them. Kal carried the food and tea through the back door, smiling at the Kryptonians waiting for him. They were as physically perfect as every Kryptonian he'd ever met, and just as cold, too. They wore their tunics and leggings as if they were an affront and sat on the rough hewn stools as if they were afraid they'd collapse at any time, despite the fact that they were made of logs and virtually indestructible.

"I am Kal-El," Kal said, nodding to them as he set down the food and pulled up a stool. "Tea?"

"I am Lor-Don and this is Ran-Kor," the taller of the two said. He made a face but accepted the tea from Kal. "We have been sent—"

"To bring me back to Krypton because no Kryptonian ought to suffer on this terribly primitive world for so very long," Kal said, completing his sentence for him. "Am I right? If it's not that then you must be here for the Archives."

"Ah, both," Ran-Kor said, surprised. He sipped his tea and made a face at the taste of it. "We're to return with you to Krypton and get a download of the Archives for the Great Library in Kandor."

Kal sighed, sipping his tea. He really wished he didn't have to go through this every couple of hundred years. Unlike the humans that Kal loved, the Kryptonians had the technology to know that he couldn't go back to Krypton. They knew that it wasn't allowed, wasn't possible. Or perhaps more accurately, it was in the files that he wasn't allowed back but unthinking Kryptonian assumptions kicked in as soon as one of the administrators back there noticed his existence and they sent teams without reading the whole file first. Or as sometimes happened, teams arrived on Earth, discovered a mention of his presence here and then the same assumptions hit them. Kryptonians were not allowed to stay on primitive plants for more than a few days to a few weeks, especially when those primitive worlds had yellow suns

"I can't go back," Kal said.

He cut them all some bread and cheese as he explained for what felt like the millionth time about his punishment. Lor-Don and Ran-Kor responded with the same sort of horror as their predecessors had, looking around them as if the little village was a torture chamber and Kal was better off dead instead of living here. It seemed to him that Kryptonian culture had slid back into the extreme beliefs that all other races were inferior and only Kryptonians could be considered to be people. It was about time for it. They'd seemed to have been rather progressive (for Kryptonians) for about the last two or three hundred years. Kal supposed that it was time for the pendulum to swing back in the other direction.

"I think I would rather die," Lor-Don said, shuddering. "To live in such primitive conditions, among such creatures!"

"This is what I must do. There is no changing it," Kal said, not letting himself respond to the 'creatures' comment. If he picked a fight they'd be around longer, trying to change his mind. It wasn't worth it. "As for the Archives, there is an interface up in the hills. I can take you there if you'd like."

"Please," Ran-Kor said, shuddering as he sipped the tea to wash down the two bites of bread and cheese he'd submitted to eating. "The sooner we have the download the sooner we can leave this world and return home. These primitive worlds always make me worry that I will be infected with something terrible."

He made a gesture as if afraid that simply touching the table where Verina and Valia ate would infect him with the human diseases he presumed were rampant. The fact that as a Kryptonian he was basically immune didn't appear to occur to him, nor the fact that Kal lived here with these people. Kal gave him a stern look, shaking his head in dismay.

"I must say," Kal commented as he stood, "I will be glad when my people remember that other races are still people. It's so aggravating when the social pendulum swings this far. The next two or three visits over the next couple of centuries promise to be quite aggravating. Well, follow me. I'd appreciate it if you include a note in your files for the future that I do not need rescue and rather dislike rudeness towards those who shelter me during my stay on this world."

Ran-Kor winced. Lor-Don looked offended but said nothing as he stood. They didn't talk as Kal led them up into the hills to the hidden cave that held the interface with the Archives. The forest was quiet, the animals startling away as they approached, and the birds either going silent or flying away. The Archive itself was deep within a cave. Kal knew of six such sites in the world. China, the Yucatan Peninsula, Egypt, Kansas, Russia and India all held such caves. He was fairly certain that there were a couple more in South America and Africa, but he'd never been to those sites.

The Archive's cave didn't look like much. That had always been a deliberate choice on the part of the creators of the Archive locations. They would find a stable cave somewhere in the mountains and add onto it rather than creating one of their own. It was a sensible choice in Kal's opinion. This cave was filled with primitive cave paintings that Kal always had found fascinating. The knowledge that they were already tens of thousands of years old filled him with awe. The Kryptonians appeared to look at them with disdain as Kal led them past the edge of the light pouring in from outside.

Lor-Dan pulled out a light crystal once they were inside of the cave, sniffing at Kal's torch in disdain. Kal sighed and took the crystal, leading them deeper inside the cave. It took them about a half an hour to reach the Archive's portion of the cave. Where they had been clambering over rock and picking their way through a very rough path suddenly the floor widened out and flattened, becoming very much a normal room. A long crystal shaft in the rock wall brought faint light from the surface. The monolith in the center of the room matched almost exactly the one that Kal remembered from the Kawatche Caves in Kansas.

"Here you are," Kal said, passing the light crystal back to Lor-Dan. "Feel free."

"You will not download the files for us?" Lor-Dan said, surprised.

"I am not the one assigned to get the download," Kal said, shrugging and stepping back. "That is your responsibility, not mine. I am required to stay here, after all."

"One would think that you're afraid of them," Ran-Kor said, giving Kal an arch look.

"They drove me mad once," Kal said, crossing his arms on his chest. "I have too many memories in my head already. I can't handle having the Archive's records flow through me too. Your memories are short enough. You can do it without harm."

Lor-Dan and Ran-Kor exchanged startled looks. Kal sighed, shaking his head at them. It was amazing how old his people made him feel. He felt young keeping up with the rapidly changing humans that surrounded him but whenever he had to deal with Kryptonians he felt like he was a million years old, not twelve hundred years or so. He winced and took another step back as the Lor-Dan set his key in the opening of the Archive's monolith and light poured out, capturing him in its web of power. He really didn't want to go crazy again.

+++++

Lex stared at Kal, startled out of the post-sex afterglow by Kal's admission.

"Interfacing with the Fortress will drive you crazy?" Lex demanded. "Good God, Kal! Why would you even think about doing it then?"

"Because I know that it will tell me where your father's getting his money," Kal said with a little shrug. "And it's not 100% certain that it would drive me nuts, Lex. I'll admit that it's a very good possibility. The records have to flow through your mind to be reviewed and I've got so many memories already that I'm quite certain that the Archive's files added to the mix will overload me. It's happened before, you see."

"When?" Lex demanded.

He wasn't going to let Kal do this alone, especially not if it would hurt him. He hadn't asked to go and see the Fortress yet but now he was tempted to demand it. Their relationship was still rather strange. Lex looked at Kal and saw Clark, his young farm boy friend but then he looked again and saw someone so much older and wiser that it made his head swim and his cock jump. It was an endless turn-on that Kal loved Lex enough to wait for him through all those centuries.

"About a hundred and fifty years after I was sent back into the past," Kal said, making a face, "and then again about five hundred years ago. The first time I was crazy for almost a hundred years. The second time it only lasted about a week and a half, but I looked at far less that second time than I did the first time."

"What were you looking for?" Lex asked, curiosity winning for a second. "No, never mind. That's not important. What's important is how can we do this so that you don't go crazy this time. I'm not going to let you go for even one second, Kal. You mean too much to me."

"You too," Kal said, beaming at him in the old farm boy way. "I think that if I deliberately sequence things so that I'm looking backwards through time, starting with the most current events and working back, it should help. It's so overwhelming to have the records flow through your head."

"So display them as images instead," Lex said, raising an eyebrow at him. "Surely your people's great and glorious technology can do some basic videos."

Kal started snickering, hugging Lex close and kissing him. He kissed quickly changed to making love. Kal floated up off of the couch and flew them together to the bedroom. Lex groaned, enjoying every minute of it, especially as Kal opened his legs and gave Lex everything. Lex was still amazed that someone as powerful and dominant as Kal was a bottom. Lex took the offer and loosened Kal up, even though he clearly didn't need it. Kal started purring, thrusting gently against Lex's fingers. He gasped and bucked when Lex pushed into him, claiming Kal as his own yet again. Lex thought that maybe in another two thousand years he might have gotten enough of claiming Kal's body but it might take longer. Kal was endlessly fascinating and his incredible sexual skills were more enjoyable than anything Lex had ever experienced, though he did tend to make Lex come entirely too soon.

Once they'd come a second time Lex lay cradled in Kal's powerful arms. Night was coming on and the sunset outside stained the bedroom in shades of scarlet and gold. Kal purred quietly under him, the purr making Lex laugh into Kal's neck.

"An alien who purrs when he's been well fucked," Lex murmured, grinning at Kal's laughter. "Who would have thought?"

"No one," Kal said, grinning at him. His expression shifted to nervous and serious after a second. "Would…you like to go with me to the Fortress? I'd be more comfortable doing it if I had you with me, Lex. You're my anchor, the one person who has kept me alive and sane throughout the centuries."

"Of course," Lex said, relieved that he hadn't had to ask. "I would have insisted on it if you hadn't offered. You're not doing anything that risky without me there to save your ass. This ass belongs to me."

"It certainly does," Kal purred, nuzzling Lex's cheek. "My ass and everything else will always belong to you."

+++++

"Kallel," Antonia called from the house, "you have guests."

Kal blinked, turning from the tree he was planting in the garden to the house. Antonius' granddaughter stood at the garden gate with a pair of men who so incredibly beautiful that it made him stare. It took a second of gazing at their glowingly green eyes to realize that they had to be Kryptonians, like him. Antonia gestured for them to join Kal in the garden, heading back into the house. She'd taken to walking with a cane in the last few years as age crept up on her. It was so hard watching her age when he stayed the same. He remembered when she'd been conceived. He remembered when she'd been born. He'd been there as she grew up, married, had her own kids, and became a grandmother. It was terribly hard to realize that she was going to die soon and his last real tie to Antonius and Marcus would be gone.

"I am Han-Tor and this is Ko-Ha," the darker skinned Kryptonian said in Kryptonian. "We weren't aware of another ship in the area until we scanned and saw your signature. What is you mission on this planet?"

"Um, mission?" Kal said, standing up and brushing his hands off on his tunic. "I um, don't have a mission. I was sent here. It's a punishment. I have to stay here."

"That's not allowed," Ko-Ha said, glaring at Kal. "Kryptonians are not allowed to stay on primitive planets such as this, especially when they have yellow suns."

"I can't help that," Kal said, shrugging helplessly. "This is where I was sent and this is where I have to stay. It's supposed to teach me a lesson in responsibility, I think."

They glared at him, looking totally offended. Kal was pretty sure that he could take them if he had to. He didn't think he'd have to though. Han-Tor pulled out a crystal that reminded Kal of the Elements of Power, doing something that made it glow brightly. The light shown into his eyes, making him glaze over for a minute. Ko-Ha watched, shoulders tense as if he was ready for a fight. Han-Tor's breath caught and he shook his head, glaring at Kal.

"You've been here nearly a century already?" Han-Tor asked, obviously horrified.

"Um…Its about eight-five years now," Kal said, nodding slowly as he counted out how old Antonia's grandchildren were. "I think I'm going to be here about another 2,000 to 2,500 years before I'm allowed to leave."

They stared at him, jaws dropped in shock. Kal blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. It was bad enough admitting that to the people around him. Telling it to Kryptonians was somehow much worse. Han-Tor's jaw worked as he tried to come up with something to say. He failed, making a little noise in the back of his throat that mixed horror, pity and disgust. Ko-Ha shuddered, looking away from Kal as if to hide his revulsion and pity. It didn't work. If anything it made his feelings that much more obvious.

"Ah, what is that crystal?" Kal asked, trying to distract them from their reactions with an appropriately stupid question.

"You use it to access the Archives," Han-Tor said, looking at Kal with puzzlement. "You weren't given one?"

"No, I was um, delivered naked," Kal said with a shrug. "Kind of head first into the dirt, too. Not fun. So I don't have anything."

Ko-Ha let out an explosive breath, pulling out one of his crystals and giving it to Kal. Kal took it cautiously, letting Ko-Ha adjust it so that it would respond to him. That led to a discussion of where the Archives were kept (caves like the Kawatche Caves) and why (to keep track of the slow development of humanity into something worthy of sponsoring into the Galactic Union). By the time they were done explaining that it was time for dinner and Kal naturally invited them to dine with the family. Neither Han-Tor nor Ko-Ha were particularly pleased by the food. They sort of looked like it was the worst thing that any of them had ever eaten, but they ate and were minimally polite.

"I think I will retire early," Antonia said after eating just a few bites. She looked pale and Kal rose from his pallet to help her to her bedchamber. "Getting old is not easy, Uncle."

"Watching you get old is very hard," Kal said sadly as he tucked her in. "Would you like me to stay for a little bit? At least until you fall asleep?"

"That would be wonderful, Uncle," Antonia said, smiling at him and wrinkling up her face in the process. "It always comforts me when you're near."

She settled a little deeper into the cushions, her eyes closing. Her breathing was very shallow and Kal could hear her heartbeat's irregularity. He'd heard the same thing right before Antonius died, and before Marcus died. Kal bit his lip, trembling as he sat next to Antonia's bed. She was dying. She was dying and there was absolutely nothing that he could do. The room darkened as the sun fell. Eventually, Gaius (Antonia's son) appeared, looking worried.

"Is she…gone?" Gaius asked.

"Not yet," Kal said, holding Antonia's hand. "But soon. You should gather the family. I don't think she's going to make it to morning."

Gaius nodded and disappeared. Various family members came and went through the rest of the night, saying their quiet goodbyes to Antonia. Kal stayed by her bed the whole time, listening to her heat-beat and breathing weaken. About an hour before dawn her body finally gave out and she stopped breathing. Her heart fluttered for a few seconds after her last breath but then it stopped too. Kal shuddered, the images of Antonia as a baby, a little girl, a young woman, a bride, a mother all blurring into the image of her lying dead on her bed in the darkest hour of the night. Gaius was there and he covered Antonia's face with her blanket, calling the women to clean her body. Kal left and went to the garden where the Kryptonians waited. He'd honestly forgotten about them.

"She was almost like my daughter," Kal said to them, not waiting for platitudes or rude comments about lesser beings. "I was there when she was conceived. I was there when she was born. And now I was there as she died. This…I have to do this over and over again, thousands of years worth of births and deaths."

"You could leave," Ko-Ha offered quietly. "There are other worlds where you could go. We wouldn't tell anyone."

"I can't," Kal said, shaking his head no. "I can't. I have…I have someone I have to get back to. No matter how long it takes, I have to go home. It just hurts right now. You must have had more that you were here for, some reason for staying here after dinner."

"We need to go to the Archives," Han-Tor said just as gently. "It is…customary…to ask the resident Kryptonian to access them for you. It downloads the resident's memories to the Archives so that they can be taken back to Krypton."

"Sort of like a historian," Kal commented, the loss in his heart battering at him. He pushed it away so that he could focus on his 'guests'. "Well, if you'd like I wouldn't mind. It would give me something else to think about for a while. I need that right now."

Kal told Gaius that he was going out to take care of his guest's business. Gaius nodded. He looked concerned but also relieved. It didn't take long to fly to the caves in the mountains where the Archives were kept. The caves themselves were much like the Kawatche Caves back in Kansas. It was both painful and comforting as they got to the center of the Archives where a stone monolith stood that looked just like the one back home. Han-Tor explained how to access the Archives and then stepped back.

"Here goes," Kal said, using the crystal that Ko-Ha had given him in the control slot on the monolith.

Light blasted through Kal, ripping at his mind and spiraling him through all of his memories. It hurt. It hurt far worse than any of his interactions with Jor-El ever had. Kal shuddered, his eyes wide and unseeing as the Archive sucked his memories out, cataloging everything that had happened since he'd come to the past. Then it started working on his memories of the future and Kal resisted. No, it couldn't have that! He wouldn't give it Mom and Dad and Chloe. He wouldn't give it Lex. Lex was Clark's, the reason he was still alive, the reason that he hadn't found a way to die. He wouldn't let the Archives take his memories of Lex and the future. It might change things and then he wouldn't have a future to go to.

The power crackled around and through Kal, tearing at his mind in its attempt to voraciously consume every memory he'd ever had. Kal fought and eventually won. It hurt but he won. The light faded and Kal passed Ko-Ha his crystal back. Kal didn't need it. It would make Lex too curious and Kal didn't want that. He just wanted to go home, back to Lex, back to his parents, back to the farm. Han-Tor and Ko-Ha flew back to Rome with Kal.

They arrived just as the sun was coming up. Kal said goodbye, being polite as he always tried to be. They were strangers but that was no reason to be rude. Once they were gone Kal went to sit in the garden, his mind filled with images of a little girl aging far too rapidly into an old woman covered with a blanket. Kal pushed that away.

Lex. Lex would be there for lunch. He'd come and eat and they'd talk. Kal would tell him everything and Lex would be suspicious. Then he'd be curious. Finally he'd be happy and maybe he'd let Kal kiss him. Kal really wanted to kiss Lex. Someone came and put a hand on Kal's shoulder. He turned and smiled up at them, seeing that it wasn't Lex or Mom or Dad or Chloe. He was pretty sure he'd met the man before but he couldn't place his name.

"Is Lex home yet?" Kal asked, not sure why the man's face was so horrified. "I was hoping that he'd be home for lunch. There's so much I want to tell him."

+++++

"This place is incredible," Lex breathed, rubbing his gloved hands together against the arctic cold. "Freezing, but incredible."

"Let me adjust the temperature," Kal laughed, going to a console full of crystals. He fiddled with them and it quickly warmed up enough that Lex wasn't in danger of hypothermia anymore. "Is that enough? I don't want to raise the temperature too much. It makes the snow melt outside and that's visible from orbit."

"No, this is much better," Lex said. "So how do you interface with this thing?"

Kal made a face, shuffling his feet like Clark when he was uncomfortable. Despite the nervous body language, his face was as grim as if he was going into battle and expecting to die. Lex came over and put a hand on Kal's arm, looking at him with worry. If this was that dangerous Lex didn't want Kal doing it, not even to stop Lionel. Kal smiled and bent to kiss Lex, brushing their lips together in a kiss that more shared breath than a press of lips.

"It's different now," Kal said, answering Lex's question while pulling him into a hug. He was shaking. "I used to have to interact with the central monolith but now that's inactive and the Fortress is the sole location the Archives can be accessed from. I'll have to see if I can set up a display function. If I can, then it'll be fine. Otherwise I'll have to interface my mind with it and it will try and copy all my memories for the record. That will…take a while and likely be very painful. I'll probably be a bit unstable for a while after that. I won't be dangerous. I always go catatonic when I lose my mind, rather than getting violent."

"You're not allowed to go crazy," Lex ordered Kal, getting a brilliant grin. "I'm right here waiting for you. If you do have to download your memories it doesn't matter because I'll be here waiting for you when you're done. The wait is over. I'm here. I'm yours and you're mine. No going crazy!"

Kal laughed, giving Lex a real kiss that turned into a passionate clinch that could easily have degenerated into sex if Lex hadn't backed up against the control console. He squawked at the sharp point of the crystal poking his rear and then laughed as the Fortress lights dimmed. Kal grinned, looking much more calm for the kiss. He worked with the controls for almost three quarters of an hour, eventually declaring defeat. The display function didn't exist, though Kal had set up the computers to create one. It would take nearly a month to get everything indexed and available for display. They both agreed that was far too long. Lionel could cause too much damage in a month. They needed the information now.

"All right," Kal said, lips thin as he manipulated the control console again. "Stay here by the panel, Lex. The interface involves huge ribbons of light and energy. I can't be hurt by them because I'm Kryptonian but you can. Don't touch the ribbons and don't try to interfere no matter what happens. This will probably take a while given how long I've lived but afterwards I'll be able to see everything that Lionel had done recently."

"I wish you'd been able to disable the memory download," Lex grumbled, taking up his post where Kal indicated. "I'd feel a lot better about this."

"It's the Archives' primary function," Kal said with a shrug and a grimace. "There's nothing that I can do about that at the moment. Once things are settled down and I have a chance to debug Jor-El, it won't be necessary anymore. He can do it for me and I won't have to submit to the memory download."

Kal touched something on one of the crystals and a humming noise filled the Fortress. He walked a few steps away to a spot that looked no different than any other spot. Kal took a deep breath and then the Fortress erupted. Streamers of blinding white light blasted into Kal's chest, seeming to go straight through him. His eyes went wide and his mouth fell open into a silent scream. Kal slowly collapsed to his knees, gritting his teeth against obvious pain. Lex heard himself shout but he stayed where Kal had told him to stand.

"Don't hurt him, don't hurt him, God damn it you stupid computer, don't you dare hurt my Kal!" Lex roared over the sound of the energy flowing through Kal as the torture went on and on. "I'm here! I'm here! Don't worry, I'm here Kal!"

It took what felt like decades for it to stop. It actually went on for almost five minutes, long enough for Lex to curse and worry and pace and finally kick the console in frustration. It only hurt his foot. When the ribbons of energy disappeared Kal collapsed to the floor, whimpering. Lex ran over, pulling Kal into his arms.

"You better not be crazy," Lex said, his voice harsh with worry. "I just got you. You're not allowed to go crazy, Kal. Chloe and Oliver will decide I drove you crazy to keep you from telling them 'the truth'. Your mother will make those killer sad eyes at me. Your dad will get the shotgun! So you're not allowed to go crazy on me."

"Ow," Kal whispered, laughing weakly into Lex's shoulder. "Less volume please. My head is killing me."

"Oh thank God," Lex breathed, holding Kal close and rocking slightly. "Thank God. Thank God. I was so worried about you."

"Sorry," Kal whispered, wrapping a trembling arm around Lex's back. "Sorry. Worked. Knowing you were waiting for me worked. Tired."

"Rest then," Lex whispered, kissing Kal's hair. "We have as much time as you need, Kal. I'll be here when you wake up, I promise."

+++++

"There, that's that," Dax Ur sighed, securing his new blue kryptonite bracelet around his wrist.

The powers that had plagued him since he came to Earth faded, leaving him ordinary once again. It had been such a struggle to deal with them. When he'd left Krypton and come here, he hadn't believed the old stories that a yellow sun would grant a Kryptonian great powers. It had seemed absurd to say the least. It had been absurd until he'd picked up a book and had crushed it in his hand. Then there had been the flying unpredictably. Then hearing had developed, and heat vision, and all the other intrusive powers that no being ought to ever have. He was so grateful that he'd found a way to remove his powers safely.

"So that's your choice," a deep man's voice said from behind Dax.

"Who?" Dax gasped and whirled, staring at the Kryptonian studying him.

He was tall and handsome with dark hair and green eyes. There was something about him that spoke of a hugely expanded lifespan, though he looked to be about twenty to twenty-five years old. His suit was impeccably cut and his hair was combed back other than one curl that had broken free to settle on his forehead. Dax knew exactly who he was, having studied all the histories of Earth before deciding to come here to hide. He stared, awed to be in the same room as the ancient Historian. He'd assumed that at some point the Historian would contact him but hadn't known when it would occur. He'd never had the nerve to contact him directly. Dax swallowed hard, bowing slightly to him. Rao only knew how wise he had to have become over the eons of his existence.

"Historian," Dax said respectfully. "T-to what do I owe the honor of your visit?"

"I was wondering why you were here," the Historian said, a little smile on his lips as he quirked one eyebrow at Dax. "I thought it might be another mission from the homeworld but you didn't make any effort to check the Archives and you seemed to be settling in to live here, rather than looking to leave. It's interesting that you choose to remove your powers rather than to embrace them."

"I hate them," Dax said, shuddering. "Man was not meant to have such powers. Rao didn't make us that way."

"Hmm," the Historian said, his eyes darkening to an almost blue color as he frowned and studied Dax.

Dax shivered, fidgeted and then hurried to the kitchen. He put the kettle on to make some tea and rummaged through his pantry for the scones he'd gotten yesterday from the bakery down the street. The Historian followed him, leaning against the doorframe with his arms cocked and his head tipped to the side. His eyes felt like lasers as he watched Dax fritter around the kitchen.

"I thought it would be appropriate to offer tea," Dax said, his voice shaking. "I do have a few scones from the bakery if you'd like them. They're only a day old so they should be good. Um, unless you'd like something else? I have some fresh milk in the icebox. Ah, and I suppose I could make some beans or something. I'm afraid I don't have much to offer that's appropriate."

"No, tea and scones is fine," the Historian said with a deep laugh. "Relax, Dax-Ur. I'm not here to harm you or send you away. I just want to understand why you've chosen to live on Earth. It can't be something that Krypton approved. They cut off contact almost entirely nearly fifty years ago."

"I know," Dax whispered, taking down teacups and saucers.

He busied himself with getting the tea into the pot, adding the water once the kettle started to sing. The Historian let him work in silence, neither offering anything in conversation nor offering to help. It wasn't as though he could help in the kitchen. It was a tiny kitchen that Dax had a hard time maneuvering in. The Historian was much taller and broader shouldered. He'd have a horrible time moving about in Dax's kitchen. Once the tea was ready and the scones and butter were laid out, Dax carried them out into his tiny parlor, pouring tea and giving it to the Historian. The Historian took the couch and Dax took his battered armchair.

"So, what brings you to Earth?" the Historian asked, sipping his tea and smiling at the taste.

"I…created a monster," Dax said, his teacup trembling on the saucer in his hands. "It's called the Brain Interactive Construct and…I'm afraid."

"Afraid of what?" the Historian asked, not at all surprised. His eyes only showed compassion and deep regret. Somehow Dax wasn't surprised that the Historian already knew all of this. It made sense that he would, given what he was.

"I'm afraid that I've destroyed Krypton," Dax whispered. "And that someday my creation will destroy Earth as well."

The Historian nodded, setting down his teacup. He reached over and took Dax's untouched tea away, setting it down too. Then he grasped Dax's hand, gazing into Dax's eyes. Dax shivered at the strength implicit in that hand. Dax knew how strong he'd become from his brief time on Earth. The Historian must be many orders of magnitude stronger after soaking up the yellow sunshine for two thousand years, yet you couldn't tell from his touch, which was gentle and reassuring.

"Tell me about the Construct," the Historian said. "If it will come here someday then I must be prepared, Dax. I cannot leave this world undefended, not if I'm to complete my mission. Tell me everything about the Construct, especially it's strengths and weaknesses.

"You'll help?" Dax asked, hope dawning for the first time since he realized what he'd created.

"If it comes to Earth, yes," the Historian said. "I cannot leave Earth, ever, not even to save Krypton. That is my punishment, to remain here through the eons until I return to my own time. However, I can and will defend this world with every bit of knowledge and power under my control. Help me, Dax. Help me save this world since we cannot save Krypton."

Dax let out the breath he'd been holding without realizing it, settling back against the cushions of his armchair. The Historian thought Krypton was doomed too. Dax had been fairly sure of it when he fled but to hear that confirmation hurt a little. At the same time, he felt so much better than he had before. He laughed quietly, letting his head slump back against the upholstery as he shut his eyes. He hadn't realized how heavy the burden had been until there was someone else to share it. Even though Krypton was doomed, perhaps together they could stop Brainiac from destroying another world. Dax opened his eyes and nodded, smiling at the Historian.

"Of course," Dax said, feeling better than he had for years. "Anything you need, Historian."

"Call me Kal," the Historian said, smiling warmly at Dax. "It's my real name. It's good to hear it from time to time."

+++++

"You do know where Lionel's money is coming from, don't you?" Lex prompted once Kal had caught his breath and relaxed in Lex's arms.

"Hmm?" Kal murmured, yawning. "Oh, yes. Yes, I do. It's going to be a huge problem to deal with. I need to talk to Raul and Dax, get J'ohn in on things. I didn't expect him to get here without my noticing but somehow he did it. He must have come right after I was sent back into the past, when I pulled Jor-El out of the Archives. I wonder if my doing that was what reactivated him. I thought that I'd managed to stop him entirely. Ah well, we'll deal with it. It'll just take time and work."

"He who?" Lex asked, his voice a little sharper than he'd intended.

Kal sighed, sitting up and stretching. Night had fallen during his recovery, though it wasn't that late in the day. They were far enough north that the days were incredibly short. The Fortress was shining in all the colors of the Aurora Borealis overhead, which stained Kal's face in shades of purple, red and blue. It looked good on him, like this was a natural pallet of colors for him to be surrounded with. Lex shivered at the thought that this might be exactly the sort of light Kal should have grown up in. Kal stood, offering a hand to Lex. Lex took it and stood, giving Kal a fierce glare.

"He who?" Lex demanded.

"Brainiac," Kal said, smiling at Lex. "The Brain Interactive Construct. It's a computer created by a Kryptonian scientist that was designed to run the world. Well, actually it was designed to run Krypton. It's very intelligent and very powerful so we'll need to be quite careful in how we handle it. We need to talk to a few people and set some of my plans in motion."

"Nothing is ever simple with you, is it?" Lex sighed, shrugging. "All right, let's get to work. Where do we start?"

"Raul," Kal said, putting on Clark's mannerisms again. "I think that it's time for you to meet him. Try not to kill him, please. He's my last lover and he's always been so jealous of you that it nearly killed him."

Lex growled, immediately hating Raul. They went back through the strange gate to the Kawatche Caves, where Lex stripped out of his winter coat and gloves. It was a short drive back to the Mansion, which Kal spent dozing on his side of the car. Lex frowned. He'd have to keep an eye on Kal. Interacting with the Archives seemed to have taken more out of him than it should have. Once they got back inside, Kal sighed and flopped on Lex's couch.

"I need to make a couple of calls," Kal said, "and then we're going for a flight, Lex."

"As in you'll be doing the flying instead of I'll call my jet?" Lex said, his stomach flipping at the thought of it.

"Exactly," Kal said, smiling wryly at him. "I can't officially meet Raul yet since I'm still pretending to be David Marcellus, so we have to do it the sneaky way. It won't be too bad. It only takes me about thirty seconds to fly from here to there. I'll wrap you up and you'll be fine."

"I can't imagine that," Lex said, going to get a brandy to fortify himself. While he did that Kal pulled out his cell phone, calling someone.

"Is Dex there? This is Kal," Kal said, making Lex raise an eyebrow. "Dax, he's free. Yes, I know he should be but somehow he's gotten free. No, no sign of meteorites, which is very odd. Mmm-hmm, I'm going to be putting the plans into action. No, you and your family should be fine. Stay where you are. Yes, I'm on it. Thanks, I will be."

Lex sipped his brandy instead of downing in one gulp as he'd planned. Whoever this Dex / Dax person was, Lex didn't like that he knew who Kal was. There wasn't a lot that he could do about it at this point in time, but he did intend to find him and make sure that he wouldn't be a threat to Kal. Lex wasn't going to let anyone threaten Kal or his family. Kal dialed a second number, sighing and rubbing his forehead as he waited for the person to pick up.

"J'ohn," Kal said and that was the last thing that Lex understood.

It seemed to be a very similar conversation to the previous one but Lex couldn't be certain. Kal spoke in a language that Lex had never heard before. It was full of liquid sounds, pops and strange clicks that brought to mind completely alien beings having discussions on things that humans couldn't possibly comprehend. Kal nodded at the end, shutting off his phone. Lex downed the rest of his brandy and came over to look at Kal with concern.

"Are you all right?" Lex asked, resting a hand against Kal's cheek.

"I'll be fine with some rest," Kal said, leaning into Lex's palm. "I'm just tired, Lex. Come on, it's 10:00 pm in Italy. We can get a late night snack and have some wine from my collection. And play in the pool! I haven't played in the pool in ages. I have to show you my baths, too. You'll love the baths."

"You're trying to distract me," Lex growled, letting Kal pull him out the back door.

"Maybe a little bit," Kal admitted with a sheepish grin, "but I really will be fine. I've got you. As long as I have you, I know I'll be all right."

Lex sighed, shaking his head. He let Kal wrap him up in his coat and then hung on as Kal picked him up and lifted off into the air. They went up slowly at first but quickly picked up speed until the air was nothing but a constant battering roar around his head and shoulders. The roar slowed down as darkness swept over them. It faded as they slowed and then stopped as they landed. Kal set Lex down and pulled his jacket off of Lex's head, smiling at him. The night was warm, with stars sparkling above.

"Where are we?" Lex asked, his voice a little hushed. He felt like a trespasser.

"In David Marcellus' villa," Kal said, his voice taking on an Italian accent. He beamed in Antonio Marcellus' way, wrapping his arms around Lex. "I need Raul's help and he's here so here we had to come."

"Did you have to bring him with you?" a man's voice said from the doorway into the villa.

Lex turned and met the glare of Kal's last lover, Raul, with a glare of his own. He didn't care if Raul had been Kal's lover in the past. He belonged with Lex now and forever. Kal chuckled, shaking his head at the two of them. His hand was warm and comforting on Lex's back. Raul stood alone in the doorway, so visibly jealous of that touch that it was almost painful.

"No killing each other, you two," Kal said in David Marcellus' voice. "There's too much to do. We need to activate the inheritance plan, Raul. It's time for me to die."

+++++

"What do you mean you'll need to die?" Raul demanded. He levered himself up on his elbows to stare at Kal in horror.

"My identity," Kal laughed, reaching out a hand to pet Raul's cheek. "Not me personally. I can't die. It's part of being a Kryptonian on Earth. But my identity as Antonio Marcellus will need to die so that I can live as David Marcellus. And then eventually I'll need to die as David Marcellus so that I can live as Clark Kent."

"That doesn't make sense," Raul mumbled, letting Kal pull him back down next to his side.

Kal purred, rubbing Raul's back gently. Raul sighed, letting Kal comfort him. He didn't understand it. He could keep living as Antonio without any problems. He'd just have to work on looking older and then maybe find a way to dye some hair gray over time. And maybe wear makeup to give himself the look of wrinkles, though that wouldn't work on his hands. Except that Raul had already seen how things didn't stick to Kal. Makeup and dye wouldn't stay, would it?

"You can't look older," Raul breathed, levering up on his elbow to stare at Kal. "That's why you have to change identities so quickly."

"Exactly," Kal said, smiling at Raul. "I have quite a few tricks of body language and expression that I use to adjust my apparent age but there's only so far those go. I look to be about twenty to twenty-five years old. I can push it to thirty-five or forty with appropriate clothes and daily application of dye to my hair but that's about it. So I have to 'die' and take on a new identity every twenty years or so. In this day and age it's just not acceptable to be immortal. It was easier in earlier eras."

They were cuddled on the bed in the newly completed bedroom of Kal's villa. There was still a huge amount of work to be done to complete the villa's renovation but it didn't matter tonight. Tonight Kal had decreed was a night for talking, cuddling and explanations of how things would have to work between the two of them. Raul thought that starting the discussion off with Kal's inevitable 'death' was a poor choice but that was Kal. He always seemed to head straight for the hard things first, rather than working his way up to them.

"How long do we have together?" Raul asked, wishing that he was Lex, that he was one of the earlier lovers.

"Until Lex is 18," Kal said, his eyes sad as he pet Raul's cheek. "I'm sorry, Raul. There are so many reasons why I didn't want to start this with you, and the inevitable end of it was only one of them. You're my friend. I don't want to hurt you and I'm afraid that it will be inevitable."

"I'll take what I can get," Raul declared, counting the years he'd get. "That's almost twenty years, Kal. It's not a full lifetime but I'll take whatever you'll give me."

"Stubborn," Kal said, purring as Raul draped himself over Kal's chest and hugged him.

"Very," Raul said, smiling as Kal wrapped an arm around his back.

They lay together for a long while, listening to the sounds of night coming over the city outside of the villa. Raul thought about the eighteen years he'd have with Kal, wondering how it would work. He didn't want to lose Kal. He didn't want to share him. He had to admit that he was already sharing Kal though. Lex was always the one in Kal's thoughts. Raul was able to steal a little of his attention, a little of his time, but that was it.

"You are so obsessed," Raul murmured.

Kal burst out laughing, hugging Raul and kissing his forehead, then his cheek, and then his lips. The kiss was in turns laughing, tender, lusty, and then sad. Kal sighed, setting his forehead against Raul's. Raul had to shut his eyes against the sadness in Kal's eyes.

"I know," Kal murmured. "I can't help it, Raul. Lex is what kept me sane, what allowed me to survive all this time. I'm too obsessed with him to ever be fully with you. It's part of why I haven't wanted to get involved with anyone else. Lex has too strong of a hold on my soul."

"I think I'll loathe him when I meet him," Raul said. "Just on principle. I'm sure that he's a lovely person to have been able to hold your interest for 2000 years but I think I'm required to loathe him."

Kal started snickering at the calm, thoughtful tone of Raul's voice. Raul grinned. He had no idea how he'd react to actually meeting Kal's ever-so-wonderful Lex Luthor, especially once Kal and Lex were together, but it didn't matter now. For now he had Kal all to himself.

"How does this 'die' thing work?" Raul asked as the thought occurred to him. "Do you have plans on how to do it?"

"Of course!" Kal said, grinning. "I always have plans. They change as events change but the general outlines are pretty simple. I fake my death and my will passes my belongings and money onto my next identity. It's worked well for centuries."

"I'm glad we don't have to do it for ages," Raul breathed, hugging Kal tighter. "I have you now and I'm not sharing you for a good long time!"

+++++

"Already?" Raul asked, surprised by Kal's announcement that it was time for him to 'die'. "I thought the plan was for David to live another four years. What about your plans to go to college as Clark Kent and be a reporter?"

"I'm afraid that they will have to go by the wayside," Kal said, shrugging as he wrapped an arm around Lex's shoulder. "Brainiac has come to Earth and I need all my resources to be able to fight him properly."

"Ah," Raul said, rocking back on his heels. "I see. I'll get to work on that immediately. Did you have a choice on the method of death?"

"I was thinking drug overdose would be the most appropriate," Kal said, dragging Lex into the villa by his hand. "We'd have the most control that way, though I expect that the news reporters are going to be quite ferocious following the story. It will also ensure that my finances are frozen until you 'find' me as Clark, which will prevent Lionel from buying Pioneer Astrophysics. That's vital for my plans and for stopping Brainiac."

All thoughts of giving Lex a hard time were reluctantly dismissed from Raul's mind. No matter how much he still resented Lex Luthor's place in Kal's heart, the fate of the Earth was more important. Gabriel poked his head out of the kitchen, nodding to Kal and raising an eyebrow at Lex's presence. Raul signaled him to prepare a light snack, sure that Kal would be hungry. He was always hungry and an impeccable host so food and wine would be appropriate to welcome Lex to the villa. Gabriel nodded and disappeared back into the kitchen. Humming echoed out into the living room.

"How can you die convincingly?" Lex demanded, tugging on Kal's hand to make him stop. "You're damned near indestructible."

"It's fairly easy actually," Kal said, grinning. "I don't have to breathe, Lex. I'm also able to slow my heartbeat to virtually nothing for more than long enough for a medical examination. David Marcellus is known to have depression and anxiety issues. He's taking a virtual cocktail of drugs for his issues and everyone knows about it. It will be simple enough to have it be a drug interaction overdose that might possibly have been deliberate due to ongoing depression, anxiety issues and the inevitable death due to genetic illness. It's going to be all over the news especially given my will specifies that my heir is to be my uncle's lost child."

"And that child is who?" Lex asked, blinking as he took in Kal's words, nodding slowly as if they made sense to him. Raul wasn't surprised that Lex followed it easily. He'd long since learned how intelligent Lex was through their interactions over Pioneer Astrophysics.

"Clark Kent," Kal said, grinning. "I've been working on that since before you were born."

"You cheat," Lex said, shaking his head in amazement.

Raul strictly controlled the grin that threatened to erupt. At least Kal affected Lex the same way that he affected Raul. He'd spent over twenty years trying to keep up with Kal's plans within plans within plans and he still had a hard time of it. He'd gotten to the point where he just rolled with whatever surprises Kal threw at him. Gabriel appeared from the kitchen, carrying a light (for Kal) snack of large sandwiches, cheese, and fruit with a nice red wine and two glasses. Lex glared at Gabriel who smiled welcomingly at him without saying anything. He openly studied Lex, which made Lex bristle slightly. Raul didn't let himself chuckle as he went to Gabriel's side.

"We'll leave you to your discussion, sir," Raul said, giving Lex another loathing look on principle. Lex returned it with at least twice the intensity. "Shall I heat the baths? And when did you want your death to occur?"

"Yes please. A bath is almost required," Kal said, pouring the wine into the glasses. He studiously ignored Lex's reactions to Raul and Raul's needling Lex. "I want Lex to see the baths. Ah…I'd say set things up so that I die on Friday night. I'll take Lex home, come back tomorrow and be seen a couple of times during the day and then scurry home in an appropriately hysterical fashion. Then I'll 'die' over the night and by Sunday I'll be back to life as Clark Kent. Then it will be up to you to officially find me."

"Very good, sir," Raul said, nodding approval. "That should work nicely."

Raul caught Gabriel's elbow and pulled him into the kitchen. He shut the door, making sure that Lex and Kal were left alone for the remainder of their discussion. Gabriel was studying him, his head cocked to the side. He looked worried about Raul and a bit nervous about the two of them. Raul sighed and pulled Gabriel into his arms.

"You okay?" Gabriel asked, wrapping his arms around Raul's waist to cling to him tightly.

"I'm fine," Raul said, not sure that it was true but it was close enough. "We've been over for years, Gabriel."

"Yeah, but it's Lex," Gabriel said, obviously not believing a word of it. "You've hated him for as long as I've known you and Kal."

"And Kal has loved him longer than Italy has been a country," Raul said, smiling wryly and shrugging. "There is no helping it. Now. Run off and start heating up the baths. I've a great deal of work to do over the next couple of days."

"Are we still going to have jobs?" Gabriel said, reluctantly letting Raul go.

"Of course," Raul said, smiling at Gabriel. "Kal trusts us both or we wouldn't be here. Changing the name the world knows him by changes nothing about who he is. Kal is Kal, no matter what other people call him. I'll be to bed late tonight so you shouldn't wait up for me."

"Then I'll just have to come and drag you away from your computers and books," Gabriel laughed, giving Raul a quick kiss.

Raul smiled as Gabriel hurried away. The ending of his sexual relationship with Kal had been painful but at least something good had come of it. Kal had a new friend that he could trust in Gabriel and Raul had someone that he could grow old with, someone who was his age rather than eons older. He didn't envy Lex as much as he used to, not after living with Kal for so long. Perhaps Lex would be able to deal with Kal's wisdom and experience better than Raul had. Raul hadn't realized at the beginning how hard it would be to be involved with someone who had so much more experience. He'd always felt like a child next to Kal. It was one of the best things about his relationship with Gabriel. They worked better together than Raul had any right to expect. Raul was more or less content with his life as it was configured. He still had Kal in his life and Gabriel was a wonderful life partner.

Raul went to his office and got to work. There was a lot of work to be done to ensure that Kal's identity as Clark Kent was kept appropriately separate from his identity as David Marcellus during the coming upheaval. Raul settled at his computer and set to work. This was what he'd been working with Kal on for more than twenty years. He'd fulfill the task to the best of his ability and if he got the chance to needle Lex a bit in the meantime, that was all to the good. There was no reason to make Lex's introduction into the circle of trusted individuals too easy. Raul still wasn't sure that he was completely reliable anyway. Even if challenged he wasn't going to admit that it was jealousy making him say that.

+++++

"This is a beautiful home," Lex commented as Kal slowly led him on a strolling tour through the villa. "Very nicely done."

"Thank you," Kal said, beaming. "Raul found it for me when he was fourteen and I bought it on the spot. Literally started laying money into the owner's hand until he agreed to sell me the house and land. He was quite surprised about how insistent I was."

"Why did you want it so badly?" Lex asked, stopping to admire the mural on the wall in the main hallway. It was beautiful and obviously hand painted. He blinked and then chuckled to see Kal's signature on it, though the name was Antonio Marcellus. Kal blushed at Lex's raised eyebrow and shrugged slightly.

"It reminded me of Marcus and Antonio's villa," Kal said, sipping his wine with a slightly sad expression on his face. "They…they took me in, made me a part of their family. Marcus' villa was as much my home as the farm is, Lex. As soon as I saw this place I had to have it. It's as close as I could get to going back to that home. And it's beautiful of course. I've made it as much a copy of Marcus' villa with modern fittings as I could."

He walked on, pointing out the library filled with books in a dozen languages, a study and two large bedrooms and then led Lex down a long hallway that ended in double doors. Lex followed, feeling a little strange about seeing this side of Kal's life. Seeing this place and listening to Kal's stories brought home to Lex just how old Kal really was. It made him realize just how long Kal had waited to get back to him.

"Kal," Lex murmured, putting a hand on his shoulder as Kal opened the double doors.

"Little much to deal with?" Kal asked, his expression sympathetic as he pushed the doors open to reveal a marble-covered Roman bath.

"No. Thank you," Lex said, squeezing Kal's shoulder. "I didn't realize, even though you said it. I didn't realize how much I mean to you. This, seeing this place, helped me understand. You really are obsessed with me just as much as I'm obsessed with you."

Kal started purring. He pulled Lex into the baths, setting their wine glasses aside. They slowly stripped each other's clothes off, setting them aside in the entry room. It was warm enough in the baths that Lex was comfortable in just his skin and a huge fluffy towel. They moved slowly, kissing and touching each other, into the first soaking room.

"This is incredible," Lex breathed as they climbed into the enormous soaking tub. "It's nearly as deep as I am tall."

"I know," Kal said, grinning. "This is a true traditional Roman bath, Lex. The only thing that's modern is how the heat is generated and the fact that the water's properly filtered. I loved the baths in Rome. Once I saw this place I decided I had to have baths of my own."

He pulled Lex into his arms, continuing to kiss and caress him. They didn't stay in the first soaking tub for very long. The water was almost scaldingly hot. It circulated naturally in the tub, convection pushing the hot water to the surface and the cold water to the bottom. The next room that Kal pulled Lex to had cooler tubs and a cascade waterfall for them to wash each other. Lex took his time washing Kal's body clean. He could still see the signs of pain and exhaustion on Kal. Getting the information from the Archives had taken a lot more from Kal than he was willing to admit. It showed in the tiny lines around his eyes, the way he moved and most especially in Kal allowing Lex to pamper him.

They progressed through the rooms of the baths, Lex getting a massage in one room and then giving Kal one in return. They soaked some more in another tub that was nearly large enough to swim in. The water was cooler there, allowing them to soak for longer. Lex burst into laughter as they entered another room and found an exercise room equipped with a true swimming pool, though it was tiled in a traditional Roman style.

"You really put everything in here, didn't you?" Lex asked, grinning at Kal.

"Of course," Kal said, grinning back. "The baths are as big as the rest of the villa. You wouldn't believe the water bills we pay for this place. When I was living as Antonio I used to allow people to come in and see the baths, students, teachers, the occasional style reporter. It was fun but of course it had to stop when I became David. He's too socially phobic to allow strangers into his house. Not sure how I'll handle it once Clark owns this place. I'm certainly not going to give this place up. Means too much to me."

Lex could see the eons that Kal had waited to get back to the present in his eyes as he looked around the baths he'd created. He looked his age for the first time since they'd been reunited. Lex's breath caught, incredibly awed that Kal loved him that much. So much of his life had been spent fighting for every scrap of attention and love that to know that someone loved him that much was almost beyond comprehension. He couldn't express it verbally, but Lex knew that he could show it.

"Is there a padded bench somewhere?" Lex asked, running a hand down Kal's stomach. He tugged gently at the towel wrapped around Kal's hips.

"Better than that," Kal breathed, the towel tenting out as he stepped into Lex's arms. "Follow me."

He kissed Lex, walking backwards slowly without letting Lex's lips go. Their tongues tangled as they stumbled together through another door, down a short hallway and then into a bedroom. They tumbled back on the bed together, shedding their towels somewhere between the door and the bed. Lex tried to convey to Kal just how much he loved him with every touch, kiss and bite.

"Lex," Kal whimpered, his breath catching and making the single word go wobbly.

"Mine," Lex breathed, smiling as Kal started purring like he was a jet engine. "Love you so much, Kal. Come what may, you're mine and I'm yours."

"Yes," Kal purred.

Kal shuddered as Lex slowly pushed into him. He purred, kissing and caressing Lex as they made slow, tender love that slid into something hot, demanding and overwhelming in its intensity. Kal shouted something in Kryptonian as he came. Lex came shortly after that and collapsed on Kal's chest. They lay panting together for a long while, gently touching each other as their heart rates calmed and their breathing returned to normal.

"What did you say?" Lex asked once he'd slipped out of Kal and draped himself over Kal's broad chest.

"It means 'beloved' or 'precious'," Kal murmured, kissing Lex's head. "That's what you always have been and always will be to me."


	2. Part 2

"Clark!"

Chloe jumped as Lois bellowed at them from across the university lawn. Clark started too, staring at Lois. She ran over, waving a newspaper and shoving people out of her way. Clark looked at Chloe, puzzlement in his eyes. Chloe shrugged. She had no idea what had gotten Lois so excited this time. Given that it was Lois it could be anything.

"Look at this!" Lois panted, shoving the paper into Clark's hands. "Look! See? Look at it!"

"I would if you'd stop poking the paper, Lois," Clark complained, moving the paper out of poking range.

"Wow," Chole breathed, reading the paper with Clark. "He looks just like you!"

The front page of the Daily Planet was covered with a series of articles about the unexpected death of David Marcellus. There was a picture of him from before his death showing him getting into a limo and waving off reporters. The articles described him as neurotic and highly reclusive billionare with more money that Lex Luthor. A sidebar article detailed the search for his long-lost cousin, the sole heir to his fortune.

"I don't think he looks anything like me," Clark said, looking profoundly uncomfortable as he shoved the paper back into Lois' hands.

"Are you kidding me?" Lois said, rolling her eyes. "He looks just like you! You could practically be twins, well other than the age difference of course. Clark, you could be the lost heir!"

"Don't be stupid," Clark snapped, glaring at Lois. "I'm not some long-lost heir. I'm going to class. I'll see you later, Chloe."

Clark stomped off, shrugging off Chloe's hand when she tried to stop him. Lois stared after him as if she couldn't comprehend why Clark wouldn't want to be the long-lost heir. Chloe stopped Lois from following Clark and took the paper away. She didn't find the apparent reason for his discomfort until she got to the bottom of the heir sidebar.

"Oh wow," Chloe breathed, staring at the article.

"What?" Lois asked, looking over Chloe's shoulder. "What?"

"The Marcellus family has an inherited genetic disease, Lois," Chloe said, folding the paper carefully and tucking it into her purse. "They all die before they turn forty."

"So?" Lois said, obviously before she thought about it. "Oh. Oh! Oh wow. So if Clark's the heir then he might…"

"Yeah," Chloe said, feeling ill. "He might die before he turns forty."

They both looked in the direction that Clark had gone. Chloe didn't know how that matched up with Clark being an alien but maybe there was something on Earth that affected his body, that shortened his life. He'd been different ever since he disappeared for a year. Her stomach roiled at the thought that maybe he'd disappeared because he'd found his birth family and discovered that he was destined to die young. She'd thought that it was because he'd finally decided to learn to use his powers but maybe there had been more to it.

"I'm going to go talk to him, Lois," Chloe said. "See if you can find out more about this search and the Marcellus family disease."

"Sure," Lois said. She perked up dramatically. "Um, think I should call them? There's a contact number for tips."

"No, that isn't… Wait. Why do you care so much?" Chloe asked, staring at Lois.

"Well, there's a reward for finding the heir," Lois said, shrugging. "My credit cards could use some help."

Lois winced at Chloe's exasperated sigh. Chloe ran off after Clark. Sometimes she did wonder about Lois but now wasn't the time to yell at her. Clark was far more important. It took her a little bit to track Clark down. He'd apparently decided not to go to his next class after all. He wasn't there when she peeked in. She checked the cafeteria, the library and then went to the park at the other end of the campus. Clark was there, leaning against a railing and looking out over the duck pond. Chloe's stomach did the churning thing again as she saw him. He looked so sad, so pensive as he stared out at the ducks. Chloe walked over and leaned on the rail next to him. He sighed when she bumped his shoulder with hers.

"You already knew?" Chloe asked.

"Chloe," Clark whined, not meeting her eyes.

"Clark," Chloe insisted, watching him.

It took almost a full minute before Clark sighed and nodded. He ducked his head to stare at his hands and then looked back out at the ducks. Chloe reached over and took his hand, squeezing it. She leaned against his shoulder and Clark put his head on hers in a weird sort of not-hug. They stayed like that for a long while, something more than ten minutes Chloe thought. Eventually she shifted position and they both straightened up. Clark finally met her eyes, smiling that too-sad, too-old-for-his-years smile.

"You found out while you were gone?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah," Clark said, nodding. "I haven't told anyone but Lex. I didn't want to. I still don't want to. It's huge, Chloe. It changes everything."

"Maybe they'll find a way to deal with the genetic illness, Clark," Chloe said, holding his hand. "You know that I'll help you however I can."

"I know," Clark said, his eyes going pained. "I just don't think that you'll be able to do anything. You going to make me come forward?"

"You kind of need to, Clark," Chloe said, huffing at him. "Lois is going to out you anyway. There's a reward for information apparently and she wants it to help with her credit card debt."

Clark spluttered and started laughing, shaking his head in dismay. Chloe shrugged, grinning in relief that Clark was looking more like himself. No wonder he'd changed so much. To find out that you were going to die young was just as bad as when Chloe found out that she might go insane. At least in Chloe's case there was the possibility that she might not. Clark seemed to have received a death sentence. They headed back across campus, talking about anything but the article and Clark's possible inheritences. Sure, it would be great if he was rich and could take care of the farm and his mom. But the other inheritence, the genetic one, that was something that she wouldn't wish on anyone.

"Don't you have a class?" Clark asked once they got back to the cafeteria.

"It's not that important," Chloe said, shrugging.

Clark raised an eyebrow at the lie and smiled that too-sad smile again. He wrapped an arm around Chloe's shoulders. She wrapped her arm around his waist. They headed inside and got some food. Clark picked fried chicken and mashed potatoes and apple pie, three of his favorite comfort foods. Chloe stuck with coffee and a bagel. They found a quiet corner of the cafeteria and sat together.

"Thanks, Chloe," Clark said.

"No problem, Clark," Chloe said, nudging his toes with her feet. "That's what friends are for."

+++++

"I can't believe this," Oliver said, staring at the TV's non-stop coverage of the discovery of David Marcellus' heir that had blacked out coverage of their latest campaign against Lionel. "Clark Kent is a Marcellus?"

"Yeah," Chloe said, looking sad as she curled up in one of the big armchairs.

"Looks like it," Victor said, munching on some popcorn. "Kind of feel sorry for him. The media won't leave him alone for the rest of his life."

"I think it's cool," Bart said, using his speed to steal handfuls of popcorn from Victor before he noticed it. "Ought to hit him up for a loan once things have settled down."

"Quit eating my popcorn, dude," Victor said, hugging the bowl to his chest protectively.

Oliver shut their bickering out of his mind, staring at the TV. The others had never met David. Oliver had, multiple times. They'd never been friends despite having both lost their parents and being heirs to huge fortunes. David's oddities had made it almost impossible for Oliver to be anything more than a casual acquaintance, despite David's support for the League. He'd always thought David was more a little strange beyond his many neuroses. He'd been an almost alien combination of phobia and compulsive behavior. Now Oliver had to wonder if David was weird because he was literally an alien. God knew his father had been nice, if a little overly enthusiastic at times. What if the whole family was aliens? What if there were other aliens besides Clark and J'onn on Earth? What would aliens want with the Earth and why were they there?

"You okay?" Dinah asked, putting a hand on his arm.

"I don't know," Oliver said. He knew better than to articulate his real worries so he gestured at the satellite around them. "I'm not sure if we'll get to keep meeting here."

"What?"

Everyone went quiet as Dinah snapped at him, her voice just a little too loud. Oliver sighed, covering her hand with his. Bart's tapping foot had stilled for a very long (for him) three seconds. J'onn came in from the other room, frowning. Victor and AC both stared at them.

"What's up?" AC asked.

"I'm not completely sure that we'll be allowed to continue meeting here," Oliver said, nodding at the TV which was showing Lex helping Mercy fend off reporters as Clark and his parents hurried into one of Antonio Marcellus' hospitals in Italy to have his genetics tested. "This space station is co-owned by Dr. Swann and the Marcellus family. That means that Clark could kick us out if he chooses to."

"Dude, he wouldn't do that," Bart said, looking uncomfortable.

"We just accused his lover of bankrolling Lionel," Victor said, looking even more uncomfortable. "He might. Depends on how annoyed and spiteful he wants to be about it."

Dinah's hand tightened on Oliver's arm. He turned back to her. She was frowning at him, as though she didn't quite understand what he'd just said. She shook her head sharply, opening her mouth to say something and then shutting it again slowly. The TV commentators droned on about the Marcellus family's genetic illness, David's neuroses, and the endless gossip regarding Clark's relationship with Lex.

"Would he kick us out?" Dinah asked, turning to look at J'onn and Chloe.

"I do not believe that he would," J'onn said. "He values his friendship with Chloe and me very highly. I doubt that Clark would do anything to a project that we both support. I cannot say whether or not he will join—he does have plans for his life that don't include being a hero—but I think that he will continue to support our activities monetarily."

"Never happen," Chloe said confidently. "J'onn's right. Clark knows what this means to us. He might not join but he'll definitely help out."

The others relaxed, reassured by J'onn's words. Things went back to normal. AC joined in the banter between Victor and Bart, perching on the back of the sofa. Dinah smiled and patted Oliver's arm, going to get something from the little kitchen. J'onn looked at the TV, his face blank. After a long moment he turned and went into the locker room. Oliver followed him.

"J'onn," Oliver said, "can I ask you something?"

"Of course," J'onn said, looking at him with his customary grave expression.

"Were they all aliens?" Oliver asked, pitching his voice low. "All of the Marcellus family? I knew them my whole life and I didn't see anything like that, but Clark is so I thought…."

"I do not believe…" J'onn began and then trailed off.

He looked at Oliver, studying him. Oliver wasn't sure what he saw. He hoped that his uneasiness wasn't visible. He thought that he'd gotten his face into a reasonable approximation of polite curiosity. He suspected that he was radiating worry combined with the sort of fascinated fear that came when you approached a poisonous snake. J'onn sighed, smiling very briefly as he shook his head. He took Oliver's arm and led him off to one of the conference rooms.

"This is not something which should be shared widely," J'onn said once they were alone behind a locked door. "I don't think that the others have the, shall we say, maturity not to discuss it openly. The Marcellus family has been on Earth since the early days of the Roman Empire. Clark and David were related to the person who came to Earth 2,500 years ago. Being on Earth gives them certain powers but it also causes certain issues for them. Our sun's rays dramatically alter their people's life spans. As far as I know, Clark is the last of his race. There is one other who lives on Earth but he has renounced his powers and thus does not have the same issues that Clark does."

"Is that possible?" Oliver asked, surprised. "Giving up his powers, I mean."

"It is possible with the correct measures being taken," J'onn said. "I have met him and I feel that he made the wrong choice, but that is my personal opinion. There are apparently religious issues for him that drove him in that direction. It doesn't matter. The only intact survivor of their race that I know of is Clark Kent."

Oliver nodded, taking it all in. He was relieved to hear that they weren't going to have to worry about an army of people with Clark's powers. Given what he could do there was too much of a danger that they'd be able to take over the world or destroy it. Oliver sighed. At least Clark wasn't going to live forever. He'd have maybe another fifteen to twenty years and then the issue would be moot. He felt like a jerk thinking it and made a resolution never to say that to anyone, especially Clark. No one deserved to know that their life was going to be cut short.

"Thanks, J'onn," Oliver said, smiling at him. "I appreciate your trusting me with this."

"You are our leader," J'onn said, nodding gravely. "You needed to know."

Oliver smiled more brightly, his confidence restored. He headed back out to the others, settling in with Dinah and the boys to watch the traditional post-mission movie. J'onn appeared a few minutes later dressed in his street clothes. He looked at them all with a blank face for a moment. He came over and stole the Oreos out from under Bart's hands and then left with them, making Bart splutter and curse at him. Oliver waved goodbye to him as he headed for the transporter. His mind didn't register J'onn's expression until much later, after they'd all gone home and he was curled up in bed with Dinah.

Satisfaction. Oliver woke from his half drowse as he realized exactly what had been bothering him about J'onn's expression as he left. He'd looked like he'd just successfully completed a mission and was proud of how well he'd done it. It had been faint but it had been there. Oliver stared at the ceiling, trying to figure out what the hell that could mean. They'd failed on their mission. They hadn't found out where Lionel was getting his money. They hadn't gotten into his computer system. They hadn't managed to accomplish a single thing they'd set out to other than destroying a bunch of expensive equipment and liberating a stack of cash whose serial numbers Oliver had set his people to tracking. The team had failed but J'onn had looked satisfied when he'd left.

"Why the hell was he so satisfied?" Oliver muttered, hoping that he was imagining things.

"Mmm?" Dinah murmured, stirring.

"Sorry, nothing," Oliver said, kissing her. "Go back to sleep."

She smiled and settled more comfortably next to him, dropping back to sleep quickly. Oliver stayed awake trying to figure it out for several more hours. He needed to talk to Chloe about this. He needed to see Dr. Swann. He needed to talk to Clark, too, but that didn't seem likely to happen anytime soon. Oliver fell asleep eventually, hoping that a spy hadn't compromise his team. He'd hate to have to go after J'onn.

+++++

"That was exhausting," Lex sighed, dropping into the sofa in the Marcellus villa's huge living room.

"This is incredible, Clark," Jonathan said, staring around the room before gingerly sitting on the opposite couch.

"Thank you," Kal said, grinning and sitting next to Lex. "Raul actually picked out most of the furniture. Well, he and Gabriel anyway. I replaced it all when 'Antonio' died and I became David. I think they did a great job of it, personally."

Lex pulled Kal into a one-armed hug, keeping it low-keyed. He didn't want to upset Jonathan and Martha, not after the incredibly busy and overwhelming few days they'd had since Lois phoned in her tip about Clark. Mercy nodded approval as Gabriel brought everyone drinks, taking her cappuccino and going to sit in the armchairs that allowed her to see everything in the room. Raul was hovering in the background, trying not to look jealous and anxious. Martha patted his arm on her way to sit with Jonathan, getting a strange look from him.

"This is a little odd," Lex murmured to Kal. "Mixing the two lives together."

"Very odd," Kal agreed, chuckling quietly. "Nice to get them all together but still."

Lex was surprised at how quickly things had gone once Lois had called in her tip. Raul had been there with the lawyers the next day. Lex wasn't sure how their interactions looked to outsiders, but from the news coverage he'd seen in the US and Italy people seemed to think that Raul had been deeply in love with David Marcellus (which of course he had been) and was trying to resurrect him in Clark Kent. They seemed to think that Lex's jealous reactions to Raul were either justified attempts to protect the person he loved or Lex attempting to steal the fortune of a boy who didn't understand what a shark he'd gotten involved with.

"So what do we do now?" Martha asked once everyone had their drinks.

"Breathe for a while," Kal said, grinning and saluting everyone with his glass of wine. "The news media will find something else to obsess about soon enough. We'll have to be nice and boring until they do so. Raul, Gabriel, please do sit down. You don't have to serve everyone."

"Don't have to," Gabriel said in his broken English. "Want to."

"I don't think that's appropriate sir," Raul said, doing his best to look like a proper butler but only managing to look jealous of Lex and Kal snuggling.

"What's the story here?" Mercy asked, gesturing with her cappuccino between Kal, Lex, Raul and Gabriel.

"Raul and I used to be lovers," Kal explained, ignoring his parent's start. "That ended when Lex turned eighteen. Raul always knew that it would so that was no surprise. Gabriel and Raul are lovers now. They both know about me and have been helping me for ages. And of course Lex and Raul are so jealous of each other that it hurts."

"I am not!" Lex squawked at the exact moment as Raul said the same words.

"It shows boys," Martha chuckled, eyeing Raul in a speculative way that made him shift uncomfortably. "Sit down boys. I think we all need to have a long talk."

Gabriel nodded respectfully to Martha and pulled Raul over to sit down on their couch. Raul sat as though he was going to break something if he relaxed. Mercy hit her amused smirk behind a sip of her cappuccino. Martha smiled at them. Jonathan just glared, still uncomfortable with his son being gay.

"What's our plan for tomorrow?" Martha asked, cuddling into Jonathan's side.

"Depends on what happens," Kal said. "We can stay here and relax, which I think everyone would find quite unsurprising. We could also go sightseeing but the media crush would be pretty unbearable. I know Raul's got a few things he's working on for the Lionel issue. I've got to visit Dr. Swann sometime soon but there's no great rush on that. He knows what's going on. We're kind of stuck in a holding pattern until we see what Lionel does."

Martha nodded, smiling brightly at Raul. Raul stiffened, looking rather alarmed. Lex sipped his wine to hide his amused smirk. He was pretty sure that he'd be getting the examination next but for now he got to enjoy watching Martha dealing with Raul.

"Well, in that case you can tell us all about how you met Kal," Martha said to Raul. "There's so much that we don't know about his past. I'd love to hear what you know of him."

"If… you think it's appropriate," Raul said, looking at Kal desperately.

"Go ahead," Kal said, smiling sympathetically. "Trust me when I say that she's not going to let it go until you tell her. She's very like your sister Maria, Raul."

"Oh dear," Raul said, startled into laughter. "Well, in that case I suppose I had best resign myself to explaining everything."

"Bad?" Lex murmured to Kal as Raul started telling the story of how Kal had saved his life as a child.

"Cross Mom with Chloe and add a dash of Lois' brass," Kal murmured back to him. "I'm going to do my best not to officially meet her anytime soon."

"Ouch," Lex chuckled.

Lex settled in to listen to Raul's tale. He still didn't like Raul but he had to admit that the affection he felt for Kal was obviously real. It wasn't likely that Raul was going to go anywhere. He'd just have to deal with the man's presence in their lives for the foreseeable future. Lex smiled as Kal rested his head on his shoulder. There was still so much that they needed to do to stop Lionel and Brainiac. Lex wanted to find out the source of his money. He needed to figure out what Lionel's real plans were. They certainly needed to get Jor-El debugged so that there was a proper consciousness in charge of the Fortress. Clark's newfound money had to be settled and the lawsuits that various gold-diggers had filed needed to be dealt with. Not to mention Clark's schooling, Lex's business, Chloe and the League, and a dozen other more minor issues.

"So much to do," Lex murmured.

"Always is," Kal said quietly, grinning at him. "It's part of what keeps life interesting. Ought to figure out what your goal for the future centuries is."

"Keep you and the world safe," Lex said, kissing Kal's cheek. "I don't need a goal other than that."

+++++

"Well, this would be easier if we had more non-human technology to use," Kal said, studying the device that he'd created with J'onn and Dax's help, "but I think that this will suffice."

It was as advanced as they could make it given the technology available in 1989. Kal's work with Pioneer Astrophysics had given him a level of technology that was approximately equal to what would be available in around the turn of the century but that still wasn't advanced enough to stop Brainiac by itself. Thus Kal had cheated in every way possible with the Kryptonian and Martian technology that J'onn and Dax had available to them. They hadn't had much to offer, but they had given Kal everything they could.

The device was encased in a meteor shell and had a tiny ion drive that should allow it to stay in orbit where it needed to be. It would look utterly harmless until after the first ship, the one carrying Kal's younger self, had passed by and then it would activate, allowing them to put Brainiac into a shutdown mode. Hopefully they'd be able to keep it in shutdown mode until the level of technology on Earth had advanced to the point that Kal could destroy Brainiac with ease. That was the plan at any rate. Kal had fourteen backup plans in case the first plan failed, which he expected it to do eventually.

"I hope so," Dax said, shivering. "The last message that I got from Krypton said that it had been destroyed."

"It was," Kal said, nodding. "I was sent as a baby just before it exploded and a second ship escaped shortly after mine did. That's the one that we have to stop."

"Will we have time?" J'onn asked, frowning. "The distance between the two ships is quite short in astronomical terms."

"We… should," Kal said, smiling ruefully at the worried looks that crossed his co-conspirator's faces. "It will be difficult but we should be able to do it. Sending it up in a rocket that would be so much easier but unfortunately that's not possible currently. It would attract too much attention. Instead it will be a matter of my getting there during the meteor shower and deploying this before Brainiac can react and I run out of air."

J'onn frowned, obviously deeply troubled by that. Dax made a face like he didn't like the plan either.

"But you have stated that there is kryptonite in the meteors," J'onn said. "You will be affected by it and lose you powers."

"And if you're taking it into orbit then I'll have to activate it with the Archives," Dax objected. "I can't do that with my bracelet on."

"True," Kal said, sighing. "But it would only be a short time without your bracelet and a very short exposure to the Kryptonite. At the speeds I can move it should be quite manageable."

"Unless something goes wrong," J'onn declared, giving Kal the sternest look that he'd gotten from the Martian yet. "I will take the device and place it. I can do so just as well as you can, though I cannot go quite as far into space as you."

"And you leave a large flaming trail when you fly," Kal said. "Which I was trying to avoid."

"I can minimize it," J'onn said.

"Not by much," Kal objected.

They argued in circles for a while eventually coming back to the same positions. Dax wouldn't operate the Archives as needed to activate the device. J'onn wouldn't let Kal risk the kryptonite. Kal groaned, rubbing his face.

"All right, all right, you've both worn me down," Kal said at last. "I'll activate it. J'onn will carry it into space. And you'll both need to take care of me once it's done."

"Why would you need us to take care of you?" Dax asked, confused. His awe of Kal as 'the Historian' hadn't worn off in the decades since he came to Earth.

"Because contact with the Archives drives me crazy," Kal said, shrugging. "It's happened twice now. It has to do with the length of my life and the Archive's programming to download our experiences here on Earth. You'd be fine. It'd download your experiences here in a matter of seconds. I'll have to access the Archives about an hour before we need to activate the device."

J'onn and Dax exchanged long looks. Dax rubbed the blue kryptonite bracelet around his wrist. J'onn sighed. Kal waited, certain that they would surrender soon. He had several more layers of arguments prepared if necessary, ranging from J'onn needing to guard over his infant self to ensure that he met the Kents to Dax's role in the creation of Brainiac giving him far better knowledge of the frequencies needed to ensure his shutdown, but they turned out to be unnecessary.

"I was… not aware of that danger," J'onn said diplomatically.

"I suppose I can do that," Dax said, rubbing his stomach as if it was churning. "I am more familiar with Brainiac than you are."

"Thank you," Kal said, smiling at them both gratefully. That made plans three and fourteen obsolete, which activated six other plans, so everything should work out.

Very late that night, or very early the next morning depending on your point of view, Kal flew with the device up into space. He waited at the upper edges of the atmosphere until his younger self and the accompanying meteor shower flashed down at Smallville. Kal raised an eyebrow to see a second red spaceship, noting that for the future. Then he sent the signal to Dax and flew as fast as he could out into space.

The Black Ship was much larger than the other two Kryptonian ships that had passed him. It had a smaller cloud of meteors surrounding it and would arrive at earth in about six hours. Kal nodded slowly, using his heat vision to destroy the largest meteors. The device buzzed in his hand. Kal carefully threw the device at the Black Ship with just the right strength and trajectory, adding the device to the cloud that surrounded it.

The Black Ship shuddered and then shifted trajectory, taking up a path around the sun that should ensure that it wouldn't impact Earth anytime in the next ten thousand years. Kal nodded, checking and waiting until he was sure that the device had programmed the Black Ship's route properly before turning back to Earth.

"That's that," Kal said, touching down by the hidden entrance to the Kawatche Caves to find Dax and J'onn waiting for him.

"So we've stopped it?" Dax asked, rubbing his bracelet with clear relief.

"No," Kal said, smiling at him. "We've delayed Brainiac. He could still come to Earth, but something would have to wake him up first and then he'd have to get here without us knowing about it. We'll keep watch. I think I'll work on some new technology that will make it harder for him to take over if he does get clear. There are some things we can do just in case."

"More plans?" J'onn asked, amusement curling through his voice and expression.

"It is me," Kal laughed. "Come on. We shouldn't be here, any of us."

"If you would not mind," J'onn said as Kal picked Dax up to fly him home, "I would like to keep watch over your younger self. I think it would be good for him to have an unseen guardian."

"That's a great idea," Kal said, smiling at J'onn. "Come on. We'll head to my place. I'll make dinner and we can celebrate saving the world."

+++++

Brainiac stalked down Metropolis' main street, stalking his prey. He was quite annoyed at the loss of time that his opponent had caused him. General Zod should have been reborn in 1989 and already nearly two decades had passed. Kara had yet to reveal herself but his opponent had grown enough in the years since his arrival to be a highly effective obstacle in Brainiac's way. Adding in the factor of the Historian made this a rather chancy maneuver but Brainiac was ready for both of them.

The device the Historian had created to force Brainiac into shutdown mode had been quite cunning. Unfortunately, it had also been ultimately ineffective. Brainiac wasn't certain, yet, what had caused its failure but he suspected that it was the removal of Zor-El's covert programming that had been secretly implanted in Kal-El's ship. The virus had to have affected Jor-El's download, which meant that when the Fortress was created, it was transferred there.

The virus should have made it easier for Brainiac to control the Fortress, but removing it entirely must have been what triggered Brainiac back into active mode, despite the device attempting to shut him down. The removal of that programming probably aided Kal-El in some ways but it had also aided Brainiac. The base AI in the Fortress was completely inadequate to match Brainiac's speed and flexibility of computing, which meant that he'd been able to fight off the shutdown command and come to Earth as a random meteorite. It was a pity that he'd had to leave his other half, the Ship and its passengers, up in orbit around the sun but at least his core was secure.

No matter, he was free and his prey had just walked into the trap.

"I know that you're following me," Lionel Luthor growled, glaring at Brainiac as he entered the alleyway after Lionel. "What do you want?"

"Not here," Brainiac said, affecting the mannerisms of his assumed identity Milton Fine. "We could be overheard. We need to go somewhere soundproofed, preferably with lead-lined walls."

"Really," Lionel drawled, his eyes going flat with suspicion.

"Yes, really," Brainiac said in a harsh whisper, glancing behind him as if worried. "Mr. Luthor, they've already got your son, I can't risk them getting you too."

Lionel stiffened as if he'd been slapped. He took three quick steps to Brainiac's side, grabbing his arm as if to shake Brainiac into submission.

"Who has him? Where?" Lionel demanded in a fierce undertone.

"The Marcellus family," Brainiac hissed. "They've already taken him and pretty soon they'll come after you too. You know too much about Pioneer Astrophysics. You know too much about them. You're in danger. We've been trying to help you, funding your work but things are getting too dangerous. They're onto us and they already intend to take you as they've taken your son."

Lionel's fingers tightened on Brainiac's arm to a grip that would have been painful if Brainiac could feel pain. He flinched appropriately and Lionel let him go. Brainiac could practically see the thoughts flying behind Lionel's eyes. His heart rate had tripled and Brainiac could hear the way his stomach was churning. His carefully chosen words appeared to have done their work in firing Lionel's paranoia.

"All right, you have my attention," Lionel said, glaring at Brainiac. "Do you have a place where we can talk securely?"

"No," Brainiac said, swallowing in a matter that should convey extreme nervousness. "I was hoping that you did. They're onto me. I can still run but I had to warn you. You're the key. If we can just get you into the right place at the right time you can undo their work and ensure that the Earth is saved."

Lionel unconsciously preened for a second, nodding decisively. He considered for a second and then headed for the end of the alleyway.

"Follow me," Lionel said. "I know of one secure place that we can use."

Brainiac followed, allowing a smirk to slide across his face behind Lionel's back. Oh yes, these humans were entirely too easy to manipulate. Lionel would make an excellent vessel for Zod once the final preparations were completed. It should be easy enough to turn all of his misguided efforts into something that would be impossible for the Historian and Kal-El to fight.

+++++

Kara shuddered as her ship opened and the bright yellow sun poured down in on her. It was so much brighter than she'd expected, though it did feel good on her naked skin. Kara hesitated for a second, bracing herself for what she knew she'd see when she sat up, remembering her baby cousin and the meteors that must have destroyed most of the area. She shoved the door open on her ship and sat up, determined to find him as quickly as possible.

"Wait," a dark-haired man said in Kryptonian, putting his hand on her shoulder. He was kneeling beside the door to her spaceship, watching her gravely. He held her in place easily, despite the fact that Kara should be much stronger than anyone here on Earth.

"No!" Kara gasped, struggling against him as she blinked her eyes against the brightness of the sun. "I have to find my baby cousin! He's out there and he'll need me!"

"Kal is fine," the man said, smiling at her gently. "You need to stop and listen to me."

Kara actually looked at him, gasping as she realized that this was the Historian, the Kryptonian who'd been on Earth for thousands of years. Uncle Jor had shown her his image, explaining that he'd been sent there as some sort of punishment in the distant past, though since then he'd become the strongest and wisest Kryptonian ever.

"You're the Historian!" Kara breathed, blushing brightly at him seeing her naked.

"Yes, I am," he said, a sad sort of smile on his lips. "You're Kara Zor-El, sent here to guard over your cousin Kal-El, son of Jor-El. He's safe, I promise. I need you to come with me. There are people coming and we can't allow them to see your ship."

"Oh! Um, okay," Kara said, scrambling for the little red and blue uniform that she'd tucked into her ship before taking off. She dressed in a flash – literally, which surprised her. She hadn't expected to be able to move that fast when Uncle Jor had said she'd get super speed.

The Historian helped her program her ship to fly behind him and cloak them all so that no one could see them. He led her north, away from Smallville and her baby cousin. Kara's stomach started churning as soon as they were in the air. Something had happened. There weren't any craters. There weren't any fires. There was no sign of any damage and the town that they flew over on the way was much larger than she'd been led to expect.

"What happened?" Kara asked, flying up so that she'd be next to the Historian.

"I'm sorry," the Historian said, his eyes full of regret, "but you were buried in the mud under the river for… a long time. Kal is grown now."

"He… you didn't save… why?" Kara gasped, staring at him in betrayal.

"I'll tell you once we get your ship secured," the Historian promised. "It's a long story and Brainiac is on Earth. He doesn't know that you're awake yet and I'd like to keep it that way for as long as possible."

"Oh Rao," Kara breathed, biting her lip.

This wasn't what she'd expected at all. The Historian had to have known where she was. He'd left her buried in the mud in stasis for who knew how long. She'd missed her cousin's entire life. Poor little Kal had grown up without any clue of who he was or why he'd been sent here. It hurt to think of him growing up so alone. It hurt even worse to know that the Historian had let it happen. He'd left her trapped deliberately, though maybe he'd taken little Kal in hand and taught him what he needed to know.

They flew to the arctic, landing in a little bit of Krypton on Earth. Kara laughed, staring around her in awe. She'd known that Uncle Jor had designed a Fortress for them to retreat to but she hadn't expected it to be so beautiful. She helped the Historian put her ship into storage and then looked around, wondering how the Fortress had been built. Was it Kal who gathered the Elements or the Historian? Had they done it together? And where was her not-a-baby-anymore cousin?

"So…?" Kara said, cocking her head at the Historian.

"I'm so sorry," the Historian said, looking exceedingly guilty.

"You did know where I was," Kara said, her heart lurching. "You left me there on purpose."

"Exactly where," the Historian said, heading into the kitchen area of the Fortress and getting them some traditional a'chan in crystal glasses. "I actually prevented you from being woken three times."

Kara's hand clamped down on the glass so hard that it creaked. She relaxed her fingers as she looked away, sipping the hot, foamy drink. She fought off tears. She was alternating between rage and betrayal, so hurt that she felt like she'd been stabbed in the chest. Her cousin had been consigned to a life alone while she'd been condemned to a perpetual stasis prison.

"Why?" Kara didn't look at him. She didn't think she could while keeping control of her emotions.

"Certain things had to happen," the Historian said, his voice thick with regret. "You couldn't be a part of it."

"And my cousin?"

"He's fine," the Historian said, his voice going strange. Kara turned and looked at him, frowning at the uncomfortable expression on his face. "It really is a long story, Kara. Sit? I'd like to explain it properly. I've only ever explained how I came to be the Historian once. I think you deserve to know the whole story."

Kara nodded and sat cross-legged opposite him at the table. She kept sipping her a'chan while the Historian fidgeted with his, apparently marshalling his thoughts. He was quite attractive, with dark hair and green eyes that reminded her of her baby cousin's eyes. He also reminded her of her Uncle Jor, though he wasn't as serious as Uncle Jor.

"In the Earth year 1989 you and Kal-El arrived on Earth," the Historian said, surprising her that he'd begin there. "Your ship was buried in the river. His ship crashed in a field close by. He was found by the Kent family who took him as their son and raised him as best they could. They had his ship so they knew what he was. He wasn't told about being an alien until he was fourteen years old."

"You didn't…?" Kara asked, shocked.

"No, I couldn't," the Historian said, his face grim. "I ensured that he had people watching over him from a distance but I could not contact him directly."

"Why?" Kara asked, waving a hand aimlessly as she tried to work it out. "You're the Historian. You should have been there to teach him about what he is! You could have told Kal-El everything he needed to now about himself."

"Kara," the Historian hesitated and then shook his head decisively. "No, let me tell you everything in sequence. It will make sense by the end. Kal had been given the name Clark Kent by his adoptive parents. Clark was young, rather immature and I'm sorry to say rather blind to what his unique powers could do. He was also rather traumatized by his arrival on Earth so he had a terrible time flying. He grew up and lived as a human, identifying with humans and feeling truly human despite being Kryptonian. When he was seventeen he raised the Fortress and when he was eighteen he took his training for a year and a half."

Kara's hands squeezed tighter and tighter on the glass until it shattered under her fingers, spraying a'chan over the table. She cursed, shaking her hands clean and then blinking that she wasn't harmed at all. The Historian triggered the cleaning program and the crystal and a'chan disappeared into the table. Kara rested her hands on the surface of the table and let them be cleaned too.

"Sorry," Kara said, hearing the resentment in her voice.

"It's all right," the Historian said sympathetically. "I understand why you're upset."

"You let him grow up that way, all alone and unaware," Kara said, glaring at him.

"I did," the Historian said, regret colored with stern determination on his face. "I had to."

"Why?" Kara asked. "Why couldn't you have just… done something for him?"

"When Jor-El's personality was downloaded into Kal's ship," the Historian said, avoiding her question entirely, "a virus was introduced into the program. It changed Jor-El's personality and added a directive for Kal-El to rule the world. To take over and rule humanity as their dictator."

Kara squeaked, her hands flying to her mouth. She mouthed the word 'Zod'. The Historian nodded grimly.

"Clark fought against that directive," the Historian said. "He fought it through his adolescence. He fought it during his training. He fought it after his training was over. Eventually he so infuriated the reprogrammed Jor-El that Jor-El used the full power of the Fortress to send him 2,547 years into the past."

Kara gasped something garbled, staggering to her feet. She stumbled backwards, staring at the Historian as her heart tried to pound its way through her chest. He watched her with that sad, regretful expression, not moving at all. Kara shook her head no, tripping over one of the steps and landing on her rear end. She started crying.

"You're… you're… Kal," Kara whispered. She didn't bother to wipe the tears away.

"Yes," the Historian, Kal, Clark, her baby cousin said. A sad little smile curled his lips. "I was sent to the past as Clark Kent. I learned to be Kal during the time I spent returning to the present. I became known as the Historian during that time. But I've always been me, no matter what part of the time loop I was in."

"But you could have saved me," Kara cried.

"No, I couldn't," Kal said, finally coming to her side. "Don't you see? I had to make sure that events happened the same way that I remembered or I'd never get back to my present, my life. I couldn't give up Lex. He was the person I was living for. I'm so sorry, Kara. I chose Lex over you. I couldn't rescue you until I was sure that it was safe and that you'd have a place in the world."

Kara sobbed and hit his chest. It was like hitting a wall, which just made her cry harder. He gathered her into his arms, holding her through the tears. Eventually she stopped crying, using the hem of her cape to wipe her face. She sighed, resting against his chest. He sighed too. He felt so strong, far stronger than she did.

"I don't belong here," Kara whispered eventually.

"Of course you do," Kal said, chuckling very quietly. "I made sure of that. I've had a couple of thousand years to make plans and nearly two decades to set up an identity for you. It's going to be fun, I promise."

"So who am I supposed to be then?" Kara demanded, glaring at him.

"You're my half sister," Kal said, grinning impishly. "I've set up a very detailed set of identities for both of us. Clark's just become a billionaire. He's incredibly rich. He's supposed to be the bastard son of a dead man who was adopted by the Kents after the meteor shower. You're going to be that rich man's other child by a different woman. Which means you'll need to be 'discovered' and brought forward to challenge Clark's inheritance, with all the drama and media coverage that implies. It'll be amazing. You'll be famous and everyone will talk about the beautiful young girl finding her rich half brother after living her life alone. Plus you'll be rich too. I set up a nice fortune for you."

"Rich is nice," Kara said, sniffling and smiling at him. It felt like a weak smile but Kal beamed at her like it was the best smile he'd ever seen. She laughed off another wave of tears, swallowing hard. "Be like finding a Lost El."

"It is finding the lost El," Kal said, grinning. "Or in this case the lost Marcellus."

"So its safe now so you let me out," Kara said, rubbing her eyes.

"No, well yes, well sort of," Kal said, making a face. "It depends on which way you're looking at things. It's safe from a time paradox now. I'm the only Kal-El in this timeframe. I'm not going to destroy everything by meeting my younger self accidentally. The young Kal-El's been sent to the past and I'm what's left."

"I didn't think of that!" Kara gasped, staring at him. "You, it, the two of you could have destroyed everything!"

"I spent two thousand years thinking of practically nothing else," Kal said, shaking his head in dismay. "It's okay now though. It's safe in terms of the inheritance as well. It's not safe in that Brainiac is on Earth and plotting to turn a particular person into a Vessel so that Zod can be reborn. I reprogrammed him once but I no longer have the computing power to do it again."

Kara squawked, jumping to her feet and then staring down at Kal. He stood. He was far too calm for that sort of threat.

"We have to stop him!" Kara said, grabbing one of the lapels of his leather jacket.

"We will," Kal said confidently. "I know who has been chosen and they're both being watched. There are all sorts of measures in place to prevent either of them from succeeding. Brainiac thinks that he's ahead of me, of us, but he's under several very important misapprehensions that should allow us to stop him cold. I expect that there will be some fighting but it shouldn't be too bad."

"What 'misapprehensions'?" Kara demanded.

"He thinks that Kal and the Historian are two separate people," Kal said with the wickedest grin she'd ever seen. "He doesn't know about the time loop or the fact that I know he's here. His creator is here too, which I'm pretty sure he does know. He doesn't know that his creator told me all of his weaknesses. We're developing weapons that will stop him for good."

"So do it already!" Kara huffed. "You can't let that monster free Zod!"

"Developing Kara," Kal said, with a little shrug. "Earth technology isn't quite advanced enough to do it yet and the Fortress is crippled until I free Jor-El's download of the virus. Right now it's a race for time and resources."

"That's why you finally freed me," Kara said, staring at him.

"Of course," Kal said, nodding. "You were due to be rescued as soon as 'Clark' got the Marcellus fortune no matter whether Brainiac was here or not. This just speeded things up a bit. Will you help?"

Kara stared at his hopeful expression, putting her hands on her hips. His eyes got bigger. She shook her head, huffing at him.

"Of course I'll help," Kara said, rolling her eyes. "You're my baby cousin and Brainiac is evil. But once that's all sorted out I'm going to yell at you for a while for not saving me. Now make with the rich and famous stuff."

Kal laughed, grinning at her. Relief was obvious in his eyes. Kara smiled. She could see her baby cousin in Kal. She could see the wise Historian as well. It was horrible what he'd had to go through but there was nothing that she could do about that. She'd just have to do her best to make up for lost time.

+++++

"There," Dax said, swallowing hard as he put the security system into an endless loop. "We can work on the Ship and no one will be the wiser."

"Perfect," Kal said, patting Dax's shoulder. "Good job."

They carefully entered the Luthor warehouse where Lex had hidden the Black Ship. Smallville was still a mass of smoking craters. Most of the town had been evacuated. Kal's younger self was safely in the Fortress, having finally submitted to his training. That left Kal-the-Historian free to deal with Brainiac's threat.

"How did it get free?" J'onn asked, eyeing the Black Ship suspiciously.

"When Lana used the Element to kill Genevieve it activated a pulse that knocked out the device we created. That woke the ship," Kal said, taking their newest device from Dax. "By the time our device rebooted it was too late. The Black Ship had already left and come to Earth with its meteor shower."

"Will he, will it remember what we're going to do?" Dax asked, staying firmly behind both J'onn and Kal.

"No, it shouldn't," Kal said, carefully approaching the ship. "This should be quite effective."

Kal could almost feel Brainiac's attention. He used super speed to approach the ship and set their latest device on the ship's surface. He had to hold it in place because the ship shuddered underneath it like a bronco trying to buck off its rider. Kal used all his strength and speed to hold the device on the surface of the ship.

"Now!" Kal snapped once he had firm contact between the device and the ship.

Both J'onn and Dax triggered the smaller devices that they had hidden in their pockets. The Black Ship shuddered and made a high pitched screeching sound that went through Kal's skull like an ice pick. It got louder for twenty-one seconds, peaked and then fell off to a low, quiet hum that only a Kryptonian could hear. The ship's surface stopped rippling; it became nothing more than a big black ship again.

"There we go," Kal said, sighing with relief. "That's put it into shutdown mode again."

"Now what?" J'onn asked, carefully approaching the ship with Dax all but glued to his side.

"Now we remove the portion of its memory that formed since it was activated by the pulse," Kal said, using one hand to hold the device on the surface of the ship while operating its controls with the other. "I won't risk it realizing that I'm Clark Kent. I don't want it to figure that out until more of my plans are in place."

Dax drew in a shuddering breath as he stepped forwards.

"Let me help," Dax said, his hands shaking. "I know more about it's programming than you do, Historian."

"Thank you," Kal said, beaming at Dax. "I truly appreciate that, Dax."

J'onn stood guard at the door as Kal held the device for Dax, keeping up a low-voiced commentary on his plans and how they would keep Brainiac from ever destroying Earth. They weren't his real plans of course. There was a very tiny chance that Brainiac would remember this despite the device and Dax's efforts to excise and 'correct' its memory. Kal wasn't going to risk Brainiac having knowledge of his real plans. After about ten minutes Dax perked up, stepping back with obvious relief.

"There," Dax said, scrubbing his hands against his thighs. "It's done. It's in full shut down and it's internal registers show that it's been in shut down ever since the first meteor shower. It shouldn't remember anything of this if it wakes up in the future."

"Perfect," Kal said, letting out a relieved sigh. "Was Jor-El much of a hindrance?"

"A little," Dax said, nodding and taking another step back. "I was able to block him though. He's in desperate need of reprogramming."

"I'll take care of it eventually," Kal promised. "Now to get Brainiac back into space where he belongs."

Kal gave the device back to Dax who hugged it to his chest. J'onn helped Kal open the hanger doors and this time Dax stood guard. It only took a few seconds to steal the ship. Kal and J'onn maneuvered it out of the hanger and then Kal flew straight up into the night sky, heading for the stratosphere. Below him, J'onn closed the hanger doors as Dax restarted the security system on the warehouse. J'onn flew Dax to safety and then joined Kal in a blaze of fire through the sky.

"Do you need more help?" J'onn asked.

"No, I've got it for now," Kal said, smiling at him. "Go activate the new satellites that Pioneer Astrophysics launched a month ago. I'll ensure that the ship's safely inside of their field."

J'onn nodded and flew away to do it. Kal took a deep breath and flew out into space. It took him about a minute to reach the satellites that he'd had Pioneer Astrophysics launch. Kal could see their lights blinking as he approached, telling him that they were active. Their public purpose of deep space research was nicely boring, which kept the public from asking questions about the very secret technology that Kal had hidden in them. They would keep the Black Ship from activating again and should keep Brainiac in place even if Brainiac did reawaken somehow. He'd ensured that they had all the computing power of the Fortress behind them for that purpose. Kal carefully matched the Ship's orbital speed and trajectory to the satellites, releasing it to its newest prison. He nodded with satisfaction and returned to Earth.

Kal checked that Dax was home safely and that J'onn had returned to his normal job as he flew home. As always he checked that Lex was all right, making sure that he didn't get close enough for anyone to detect him. Lex was fine, though infuriated that the Black Ship had mysteriously disappeared. Kal nodded and flew on. One more plan coming together nicely. A few more tweaks to his crystal and he'd be ready to remove Jor-El from the Fortress once his younger self had been sent to the past. And just a couple more records for Kara's eventual identity were all that was needed on that front.

"That went well overall," Kal murmured as he flew back to Italy and his villa. "Pity that Lana's actions freed Brainiac but at least it's been dealt with properly. I'll have to get Pioneer working on a new set of controls in case he breaks free again."

Kal hummed as he flew home. Only a year and a half left before he got to go home to Lex. He could hardly wait!

+++++

"What is this?" Lex spluttered. He glared at the TV reporters enthusing about the second Marcellus heir. "She's not a Marcellus."

"Hmm, they moved quickly," Kal said. "I didn't expect the media frenzy to hit until tomorrow."

Lex turned to stare at Kal. He was smiling at the bouncy blond girl who had to be pulled away from the cameras. He looked calm. Lex thought that Kal was amused by the girl's enthusiastic waves to the cameras as the door shut. She was in every way the opposite of what Kal tried to portray as Clark. She was nothing at all like Kal's wisdom and restraint. The people with her looked flustered in the replays the media put up, but the girl seemed to eat up the media's attention.

There had been several other people who came forward claiming to be the 'real' Marcellus heir. All of them had failed the testing which was no surprise as none of them were Kryptonian. None of them had been female. It was well known that the Marcellus heir was male so why would a girl come forward? Kal suddenly grinned as the reporters started commentating about the girl's resemblance to Clark Kent. He wagged his eyebrows at Lex.

"You knew about this?" Lex asked, horrified. "Kal! You should have warned everyone. Martha and Jonathan went out sight seeing with Raul. The press is going to mob them."

Kal chuckled as Gabriel came in from the kitchen with wine and a light snack for the two of them. He stared at the TV, his head cocked as if he was astonished by the girl's existence. Lex studied Gabriel's reaction and then turned to Kal who pretended to hide behind his glass of wine.

"You didn't tell anyone about this, did you?" Lex demanded. "This is a surprise to everyone!"

"Well, it's a surprise to everyone on this side of things," Kal shrugged, "but I've been building her identity for nearly twenty years."

"Who is she?" Gabriel asked, setting the tray down on the coffee table.

"My cousin," Kal said, taking a sandwich. "She was trapped in her ship for the last decade and a half. I freed her a week and a half ago. As far as the rest of the world will be concerned she's my younger half sister, born and raised in a tiny town in Denmark."

"Why there?" Lex asked, taking one of the sandwiches. He started eating grumpily. He didn't like this sort of surprise, especially when they weren't sure what Brainiac and Lionel were up to. It would be too easy for Kara to be used against them. Until they had a handle on Brainiac and Lionel, Lex wanted no surprises at all.

"Because the descendants of one of my former lovers live there and they've always helped me," Kal said, shrugging. "They're all blond and blue eyed like Kara. Good people. Their ancestor was given to me as a slave by the king of Spain several centuries ago."

"You are not distracting me with tales of your past," Lex said, waving his finger at Kal before taking a sip of his wine. "You should have told us. We should have been prepared for a 'sister' appearing out of the blue."

"And ruin the reactions that they'll be reporting in just a few minutes?" Kal said, grinning mischievously. "I trust Raul to keep things from getting out of control. He'll keep them safe. Mom and Dad aren't good actors. They need to be honestly surprised by Kara or it'll show. And honestly, Raul's shock has to be genuine or people will realize that something's up. He's very good being a butler but he's terrible at pretending to be shocked by things."

"He is bad at acting," Gabriel agreed, nodding solemnly. He calmly headed back into the kitchen, leaving them alone.

The news switched to a live report showing Raul hustling Martha and Jonathan out of a ruin and into their limo. Raul had a convincing look of black rage and total frustration on his face as he fended off paparazzi. Jonathan had his 'not sure my heart can take this' look on. Martha had the best-controlled expression of all of them but she still was clearly astonished.

"You're in so much trouble when they get back here," Lex said, smirking at Kal's wince.

"Can't be helped," Kal said a little sadly. "I know them. It needed to be a shock and the shock needed to be public. It's necessary."

"Brainiac?" Lex asked, setting his empty wine glass on the tray.

"Oh no, the lawyers," Kal said, laughing out loud. "Brainiac knows exactly who she really is. It's the lawyers and the general public that need to be led astray by this little bit of theatre. I'm looking forward to getting her home. I still feel really bad for her."

"Why would you feel bad?" Lex asked, frowning. "You didn't know where she was, did you?"

"I knew exactly where she was and kept her from being found on three occasions, Lex," Kal said, his age showing in his sad eyes. "I chose you over her."

"Ah."

It took almost two hours for Raul to get back to the villa with Martha and Jonathan. The trip normally would have taken about twenty minutes but traffic and the paparazzi stretched it out considerably. Martha and Jonathan looked flustered once they entered the living room. Raul looked like he was ready to punch someone through a wall. He scanned the living room, his eyes locking onto Kal.

"You!" Raul snapped, pointing an imperious finger at him. "How dare you do that? You promised that you would warn me before you freed Kara!"

"I lied," Kal said, meeting Raul's fury squarely. "You know that I do that when it's appropriate."

"Wait, you know her?" Jonathan asked, staring at Raul and Kal in turn.

"She's my cousin," Kal said, nodding. He wrapped an arm around Lex as if he was trying to comfort him. Lex suspected that it was far more to comfort himself. He rubbed Kal's thigh and leaned into the half hug. "She was sent to watch over me and teach me what it meant to be Kryptonian. When we crashed in Smallville her ship was trapped in the mud in the river. I made sure that she stayed there until a week ago. I couldn't let her be freed early and mess with the time stream."

Martha sighed, patting Raul's shoulder as she came over and tugged Kal away Lex. Kal winced, letting her pull him aside so that they could have a quiet mother-son talk. Raul growled, glaring at Kal as he left. Lex smirked at him as if he hadn't been complaining nearly as loudly about Kal keeping secrets a couple of hours earlier. Raul bristled at him, stomping off to the kitchen.

"You have to do that, son?" Jonathan asked, his lips twitching with amusement.

"Absolutely," Lex said, raising his chin against the grin that tried to break loose. "I think that we both find it mandatory to needle each other."

Jonathan laughed quietly, shaking his head at Lex. It was just before dinnertime when Kara and her guardians showed up at the villa. Raul had regained his self-control by then though he still gave Kal a fierce glare when the driver called in to be let through the gates. Gabriel had set three extra places for dinner automatically, which Lex thought showed his complete faith in Kal.

"Kal!" Kara squealed, hugging him tightly.

"Welcome home, Kara," Kal said, hugging her back.

"You were so right about everybody liking me," Kara said, beaming. "It's nice. But you still need to be whacked for leaving me there so long."

"Agreed," Martha said, making Kal wince and give both Kara and Martha a sad sheepish glance. "Welcome home, dear. I'm Martha."

"Aunty Martha!" Kara squealed, hugging her tight. "I'm so glad I finally get to meet you!"

Kal smiled at Kara's escorts, holding out his arms to them. They smiled back. The woman laughed as she hugged Kal, both of them looking delighted to see him.

"Arne, Frida," Kal said, "Let me introduce you to my family and Lex."

"Please," Frida said, smiling at them all. "Kara has told us a little about your past but we know almost nothing of your present besides what we have experienced.

She was tall and blond, with blue eyes that nearly matched Kara's. Arne was a little taller than Kal, with dark hair going grey at the temples. He was thin as rail instead of bulky like Kal. Kara beamed, bouncing on her toes.

"They get to be my parents," Kara declared. "It's so cool. I get to be rich and powerful and have new parents and speak lots of languages. It might even possibly be worth getting stuck in the mud for a decade and a half."

"Sorry about that," Lex said, smiling ruefully at her. "It was my fault."

"No," Kara said, shaking her head hard. "It was Kal's fault. Not that fault's the right word. I'm not sure that there is a right word. He just chose you instead of me."

"You don't mind?" Lex asked, a little surprised.

"I know him," Kara said, awe filling her eyes. "He's the Historian. You have no idea how much that means to a Kryptonian. And you have no idea how much speculation there was about you."

She cocked her head at Lex, eyeing him as if he was the most interesting thing she'd ever seen. Kal stepped close, wrapping an arm around him. Frida and Arne had the same fascinated expressions as they looked at Lex. Lex raised his chin, refusing to quail in front of their curiosity.

"Then I suppose we should have dinner and get to know one another," Lex said, grateful for the little squeeze Kal gave his waist.

+++++

"We would not normally intervene in such a chase," King Philip II said to Kal, "but we felt it important to save the boy from slavery to the Turks. You are well known to us as a defender of the faith and a very pious man. We would be very grateful if you would take the boy as your servant and help him to overcome the taint of his heretical former masters."

Kal suppressed an annoyed sigh, bowing to the King. This was part of why he tried hard to avoid interacting with the rulers of the world as he worked his way back to the present. They always assumed that when he helped once he would automatically help again, dancing like a puppet on a string. He'd only helped put down the rebellion in the kingdom of Aragon because it threatened his family. They'd moved to Scandinavia once it was safe but Kal had been required to come back to Spain to deal with holdings that they'd left behind. He'd been hoping to leave Spain without issue now that everything was wrapped up. Obviously, that hope wasn't going to be fulfilled.

The boy shivered, kneeling between two guards as if he expected to have his head removed at any moment. He was slender but quite sturdy, with flaming red hair. The rest of court was dressed in silks and fine cottons but the boy only had sandals and a rough tunic. Kal rocked back as the boy raised his eyes enough to look at him. His eyes were vivid blue, full of intelligence shadowed by fear. He immediately looked back down when he realized that Kal had noticed him peeking.

"I would be honored, your Majesty," Kal said, not letting the words become a sigh. "I will have to rearrange things in my life slightly. I have not had a personal servant in quite some time. I'm sure that he will do quite well though, as you recommend him so highly."

King Philip looked pleased at the praise and acceptance of his 'gift'. He wasn't a bad person overall, though Kal considered him a bit too dedicated to his vow to protect the Catholic faith against both the Protestants and the Turks. They exchanged pleasantries for a minute or so longer, until King Philip gestured for the next group to come forward. Kal went to the boy, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Come along," Kal said, quietly. "It's time to go."

"Yes Master," the boy said, bowing his head to the marble floor before rising.

He followed Kal compliantly out of the building, looking as though he expected to be attacked at any second. His wrists had shackle marks on them, which Kal thought might have something to do with his jumpiness. Kal didn't hesitate as he led the boy out of the palace and into the street. The boy did, scrambling to keep up with Kal once he realized that there wasn't going to be a carriage ride. Kal sighed. He'd hoped that the boy would make a run for it but apparently he was too well trained as a slave or too afraid of the Spaniards and their Inquisition.

"M-Master?" the boy asked after they'd walked most of the way across town to the docks.

"Yes?" Kal asked, looking at him.

"May this one ask where we are going?" the boy asked, his voice shaking.

"We're going to Denmark," Kal said, chuckling at the boy's start of shock. "His Majesty isn't aware of it yet but I recently moved there. It's much colder than here but I think it will be a good place to live."

"Yes Master," the boy said. Shock made his face go blank as his jaw dropped open for an instant. He recovered almost instantly, snapping his mouth shut and returning his eyes to the ground.

Kal stopped before they boarded his ship, getting the boy several sets of much warmer clothes and good boots to wear. He seemed overwhelmed by the gesture, as if it was far too much to expect. Kal considered it mandatory. He wouldn't survive the trip without warmer clothes. Kal didn't know the boy yet so he wasn't going to show him his powers by flying them straight there. Besides, he did have to get his ship back to northern waters. The Captain of Kal's ship raised an eyebrow at the boy but didn't comment when Kal led him to his room.

"Your clothes will be here," Kal explained as he put all but one set of clothes away. "Please put that set on. We'll be setting sail this afternoon with the tide. I'll have them put up a hammock for you to sleep in. You can call me Kal."

"Yes Master Kal," the boy said, stripping as if he expected to be raped at any second.

His back was covered with whip marks and bruises dotted his sides and stomach as if he'd been used as a punching bag. He was a bit undernourished but still healthy. His ribs showed but not starkly. Kal waited until he'd scrambled into his new clothes before nodding approval. He went over, putting a finger under the boy's chin, forcing him to raise his head. The boy kept his eyes downcast as was appropriate to a slave.

"What's your name?" Kal asked.

"F-Feliciano, Master Kal," he said, swallowing hard.

"A good name, Feliciano," Kal said. "Now, there's one thing that I need you to do for me."

"O-of course, Master Kal," Feliciano said.

"Please stop calling me 'Master'," Kal said, chuckling at Feliciano's start of surprise. "I don't keep slaves, Feliciano. You will be my servant for the foreseeable future but you are not a slave anymore. No one can beat you without my permission. No one has the right to your body or to demand sexual services of you. You will receive a wage and you will be able to own the things that you buy with your wages."

Feliciano opened his mouth to say something but only a garbled noise came out. He finally met Kal's eyes, staring at him with eyes that looked just like Lex's when Kal had done something impossible. Kal refused to let his shiver of arousal show. The boy was not Lex, no matter how much his pale skin, red hair and startling blue eyes made him resemble Lex.

"Master…!" Feliciano gasped finally.

"No, not Master," Kal said, shaking his head firmly. "Just Kal. Sir if you absolutely must use some title."

"That's… I'm not worthy of… you can't just… what about his Majesty?" Feliciano spluttered. "He gave you to me as your slave. You can't just free me. Can you?"

"No, he gave me to you to save you from slavery to the Turks," Kal said, shrugging. "I choose to do that by freeing you from slavery entirely and training you in a trade. We'll figure out what trade over time. I expect that you'll be with me for a good decade or more so there's no rush on that."

Feliciano shut his eyes, his bottom lip quivering as if he was fighting tears. Kal smiled fondly at the boy. He truly did remind Kal of a very young Lex Luthor. He thought that Feliciano was perhaps sixteen though given the way he'd been treated he could very well be as much as eighteen and malnourished, or thirteen and big for his age. Either way he was a boy who looked like he'd turn into a very worthwhile man someday.

"Can I thank you?" Feliciano asked, his eyes darting to Kal's groin before coming back to his lips.

"No, not that way," Kal said patting Feliciano's shoulder. "I have no lovers and have no desire to take any."

"A man such as you should have dozens of lovers," Feliciano muttered as he leveled a look of blatant disbelief at Kal.

Kal burst out laughing. Feliciano started at the laughter and then blushed, smiling shyly. Kal shook his head, grinning at him.

"I think we'll do quite well together, Feliciano," Kal said. He sat on his bunk. "But your opinions of my 'worthiness' not withstanding, you'll be sleeping in your hammock and I will be in my bunk. You're far too young for my tastes and far too freshly removed from slavery."

"So I might have hope in a couple of months?" Feliciano asked, looking at Kal flirtatiously.

"Try a couple of years at best and none of that, young man," Kal said, wagging a finger at him. "Not with me or with any of the crew. I won't have you flirting and getting yourself raped. Sailors are horny beasts and they wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of you, despite the fact that I own the ship."

"Yes sir," Feliciano sighed. "Um, is there something I should be doing?"

"Certainly," Kal said, getting up and heading to the door. "Let's see how quickly you can learn basic knots and the fundamentals of sailing. I'm sure the Captain would appreciate another set of hands. If you're good at it then maybe you can be a sailor someday."

Kal sighed at Feliciano's quietly murmured 'rather stay with you'. The boy was only reacting to being freed. It would be years before Kal would believe any protestations of 'love' from him. He'd dealt with entirely too many freed slaves over the centuries. They either lashed out at you with hatred that was in reality directed at their former abusers or they decided that they loved you with all their heart because you'd been so kind as to treat them like a human being. Hopefully Feliciano wouldn't be one of the ones who oscillated between the two poles of emotion at the drop of a hat. Kal didn't need that kind of drama in his life.

"Captain," Kal said, heading to his side, "this is Feliciano. He's going to train to be my secretary but I thought he might like to learn a bit about sailing during our journey north."

"Welcome aboard," the captain said, nodding to Feliciano. "Anything you wish, Sir."

Feliciano swallowed hard but he followed as the Captain led him away. He looked over his shoulder a little desperately once. Kal made little shooing gestures at him. Feliciano swallowed a laugh and returned to his lesson on knot tying. Kal nodded slowly. One more life to care for wasn't so much, not when they lived such a short amount of time. He'd help Feliciano become the best person he could be and then set him loose in the world. It should be interesting to see what he did and what sort of person he became.

+++++

"This is as secure as you'll ever get," Lionel said once he'd locked the door to the soundproof room in the laboratory he'd set up with the funding from Edward Teague. He moved across the room to station himself in front of the computer system there. He was interested in the man's information but he saw no reason to trust him.

He'd had limited contact with Edward since his release from the sanitarium but he was Lionel's best supporter since Lex had turned against him. He wasn't at all surprised that Edward hadn't contacted him directly. The man was obsessive about the Traveler and quite skittish about going out in the public eye before the second meteor shower. His wife and son's death appeared to have increased his paranoia dramatically.

"This should work," the man said. He prowled around the room while nervously checking the walls for cameras. "What do you know of the Marcellus family?"

"They're old money. Rich, arrogant and doomed to die young," Lionel said. He stood still while watching the man. "You haven't told me who you are."

"Fine," the man said. "Milton Fine. I'm a professor at Met U. We were trying to get to Clark Kent before he discovered that he was a Marcellus but it was too late. They'd already gotten him. Now they've got your son too. He's there, in Italy, at the Marcellus villa. It's probably too late for him but we can still try to get him out."

Lionel narrowed his eyes, studying Fine for any signs of lying. He didn't look like he was lying. He looked as though he was afraid of being murdered at any second. Lionel had always had doubts about the Marcellus family. No one could be as persistently cheerful in the face of certain death as Antonio and no one was as neurotic as David.

"Continue," Lionel said. "I'm listening."

"Good, good," Fine said, rubbing a shaking hand over his face. "The Marcellus family, they've got a long history, very long. My research has turned up members of the family all the way back to the Roman era. There's something very odd about them."

"Beyond their 'genetic defect'?" Lionel asked. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes," Fine said, nodding just a bit too urgently. "Have you really looked at them? Closely, I mean? They all look alike. I did a comparison once, matching all of their photographs going back to the earliest pictures that were available. Computer analysis turned up a very interesting fact."

Lionel cocked his head at Fine, smirking slightly. He'd met both Antonio and David. He knew that they looked very much alike. That was hardly news.

"Their faces matched down to the colors of their irises," Fine said gravely. "When you look at them in detail they look identical. Even Clark Kent has the exactly same eyes. He has the same nose, the same lips, and the same chin. It's beyond belief, I know, but Clark Kent has the same retinal scan that Antonio Marcellus and David Marcellus had."

"Are you saying that they're clones?" Lionel demanded, shocked out of his pose of indifferent disbelief. "They've been cloning themselves throughout the centuries?"

"I don't know," Fine admitted. He rubbed his face again. His hand was shaking harder now and he'd begun to sweat profusely. "I just know that every time anyone gets too close to the Marcellus family they either change, as your son has, or they end up dead. I've spent years secretly studying them. I'm convinced that your son is in danger, Mr. Luthor."

"They change?" Lionel asked, beginning to be concerned for Fine. He eased back a little bit, pressing against the worktable.

"Yes." Fine nodded urgently. His shaking had extended over his entire body. His shirt was soaked with sweat but Fine didn't appear to realize it. "Their personalities change. They become obsessed with the member of the Marcellus family that they encountered. They start loosing control of their emotions. Eventually the reject their family and, and…"

He shuddered, looking down at his hands as if only just realizing how he was shaking. Fine whimpered, staring around the soundproof room wildly. He scrabbled through his pockets, pulling out a flash drive that he tossed at Lionel's feet.

"They know," Fine said, his breath wheezing in his chest. "They know. They must have, have infected me."

"What?" Lionel snapped, backing off against the far wall. Fine was between him and the exit, a mistake that Lionel urgently regretted now. He pulled out his handkerchief and covered his mouth with it. "Infected you? With what?"

"It's on the flash drive," Fine gasped. He coughed, a nasty hacking sound. "Everything, all of my research is there. There's, there's a possible antidote, a cure to what they did to me, to your son on it. Don't touch it. Have it disinfected. They've killed us all to protect their secret. You're, you're the only hope. Your son's only hope. I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I hope you're not, not infected too. D-don't touch, t-touch, touch…"

Fine's desperate babbles trailed off and he collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest. He curled into a ball, coughing as though his lungs were trying to climb out of his throat. Lionel shuddered, cursing under his breath. After a moment his cursing died. The sweat running down Fine's face increased, turning to a thin red that darkened until his pores were oozing blood. The blood blackened, thickened as Fine's whimpers turned into horrifying gurgling screams.

"Oh my God," Lionel gasped as what he'd thought was the worst death possible became worse.

Fine's screams died as his body began to burn from the inside out. His flesh spontaneously combusted in a fierce blaze that set off the fire extinguishers. The water spraying down did nothing at all to dim the blaze that consumed Fine's body, turning it into ash and black oily sludge. Lionel watched pressed back against the wall. His men opened the door as soon as the fire extinguishers went off but Lionel stayed and watched until oily smoke filled the room. He had one of them pick up the flash drive before he would allow them to drag him from the room.

"I want that room completely disinfected," Lionel ordered as he squelched through the building. "That flash drive has critical information on it. It will be disinfected and the data downloaded immediately. If anything is lost I will have your heads, is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" his assistant gasped.

"Someone start a proper bath for me to get this stench off!" Lionel roared once the flash drive was carried away.

Lionel didn't know what had just happened. He wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it. One way or the other, he would discover what Milton Fine's information had to teach him. He would verify what Fine had said about the Marcellus family. He suspected that everything was true.

He'd already seen how his son changed once he went to Smallville and encountered Clark Kent, the lost Marcellus heir. The only matter left to discover was how he'd done it and how to reverse it.

+++++

"See? See?" Kara said as she pointed at the bit of code. "That's what's responsible, right there."

"Ah," Kal breathed. "Perfect. Can we get it out?"

He nodded slowly, leaning over the back of her chair to study the display. Lex's patient lounge in the chair opposite them went from bored inattention to slightly annoyed tenseness until Kal stood up and moved away from Kara again. Kara had noticed Lex doing it as soon as she met him. It was kind of cute how obsessed Lex was with Kal. She thought it gave their relationship a bit more balance given Kal's massive obsession with Lex.

"Should be pretty simple," Kara said, manipulating the controls on the crystal that Kal had created. "It's not so much a matter of removing that bit of code as making it the lowest priority. It was always part of the coding for Jor-El's download. It's a pretty major part of Kryptonian society. You know, the whole thing where we're better than all other races and are destined to show them how to approximate our perfection."

"I hate that," Kal groaned.

Kara grinned at the way Kal rolled his eyes. She didn't necessarily agree with that belief though it was pretty obvious that humans weren't anywhere near technologically equal to what Krypton used to have. They certainly had neat things, like incredible baths and bikinis and coffee and hot chocolate, but their technology was seriously lacking. Their minds seemed to be as good as any Kryptonian's. Well, other than the math thing. She'd yet to meet a human who could keep up with her on math. She thought it might be a biological thing about Kryptonian and human brains.

"I like these controls," Kara commented as she worked to reprioritize Jor-El's programming directives.

"Thank you," Kal said proudly. "I tried to make them more intuitive than the ones the Archive has."

"Anything has better controls than the Archive," Kara said, rolling her eyes. "Seriously, the mind interface thing is so ancient history. Efficient but difficult to master. Actual physical controls are much better."

"You'll never get any disagreement out of me on that," Lex commented.

He and Kal shared one of those tender looks that always made Kara squirmy. She saw her baby cousin most of the time when she looked at Kal but when he looked at Lex she saw the Historian. She saw the love that had lasted thousands of years. It was so incredible to get to interact with Kal when he was being the Historian. Most of the time he hid his wisdom and experience. The occasional glimpses of who he really was were almost too intense to handle, which she supposed was why he hid that side of himself.

"There we go," Kara said. Her cheeks were burning from their looks at each other as she finished the edits to Jor-El's programming. "Let me do another scan and see if there are any worms hidden in his programming. Shouldn't be given the scans we did before but it's best to be sure."

"Thank you," Kal said, resting a hand on her shoulder. He squeezed gently making Kara smile up at him.

"He's my Uncle Jor," Kara said with a little shrug that probably did nothing to hide how pleased she was at his thanks. "It's the least I could do."

It took Kara another three hours to be one hundred percent certain that Jor-El's programming was going to work. She'd heard from Auntie Martha about some of the horrible things that Jor-El had done to Kal before sending him into the past. She wasn't going to let any of that happen again, especially not now that she was free and would be subject to his interference too. By the time she was done everyone but Kal and Lex were asleep.

"So do we do this now?" Kara asked, passing the crystal back to Kal.

"We need to," Lex said before Kal had a chance to open his mouth. "Brainiac and Lionel are both out there. We need Jor-El back in control of the Fortress so that Brainiac's possible actions are limited. I absolutely need to determine what Father's up to."

"Agreed," Kal said. He looked every minute of his 2500-plus years as he studied the crystal. "I assume you want to come along?"

"Yes!" Kara exclaimed at the same time that Lex said it. She stuck her tongue out at him when he snorted.

"Let's go," Kal chuckled at them.

Kal carried Lex, somehow shielding him from the wind and acceleration. Kara knew that they were able to shield their clothes – her outfit would have been shredded otherwise – but she hadn't realized that they could shield a passenger as well.

"S-still c-cold," Lex said once they landed. His teeth chattered loudly in the silence of the Fortress.

"Sorry, Lex," Kal said, hugging him to keep him warm. "The Fortress resets to ambient temperature when no one is around. It's a way of keeping anyone from spotting it from the air. The temperature will go up to human comfort levels now that we're here."

As he spoke the temperature did rise, melting the snow that had drifted in on the wind. In less than a minute Lex was able to step away from Kal without shivering. The process of restoring Jor-El was remarkably unremarkable. Kal had them stand back from the control console. He adjusted a few things and then pressed his crystal against the console.

"Welcome Kal-El, my son," Jor-El's voice boomed. "Welcome, Kara Zor-El. Welcome, Lex Lu-Thor."

"Welcome back," Kal said, beaming. "How do you feel? Do you remember your past actions?"

"I do," Jor-El said. "I am… uncertain as to my thought processes at the time however."

"Your directive prioritization was messed up," Kara said. She bounced excitedly, delighted that it had worked. She had her Uncle back! "We re-sequenced things so that you're more like you again."

"Jor-El," Lex said, cutting across Kara and Kal, "Do you know where Lionel Luthor and Brainiac are? What are they doing?"

Jor-El was silent for a moment. A glow appeared in front of the control console showing Brainiac's chosen human shape as it walked down the street purposefully. Kara couldn't tell what it was up to but it looked smug, as though it was delighted by something. The display split, showing five other locations where Brainiac was working. It wasn't immediately obvious to Kara what he was up to in any of the locations.

"I am unable to determine which of these images is correct," Jor-El announced in a disturbed tone of voice. "There is some force blocking me from scanning for Lionel Luthor. It appears to be generating multiple images of Brainiac in my sensors, any one of which may be real. None of them may be real. I am unable to determine."

"Fuck!" Kal snapped. He shut his eyes as his jaw worked. Lex stepped to his side, putting a hand on his elbow. Kal opened his eyes and shook his head at Lex. "We're too late. Brainiac's already gotten your father. He's set up some sort of system to interfere with Jor-El."

"Then we'll just have to take it down," Kara declared. She raised her chin as Kal and Lex turned to stare at her. "What? We can't let Brainiac loose on Earth! It'll destroy everything and I have more clothes and shoes and hot chocolate to buy."

Kal laughed, grinning at her even though the wrinkles around his eyes showed how angry he still was. Lex smirked, shaking his head at her in dismay. Even Jor-El made a little static sound that she thought was a lot like a sigh.

"I'm so glad I saved you, Cousin," Kal chuckled. "All right, I guess we do have to move straight into battle. I didn't want to start with outright war but Brainiac forced my hand."

"Which plan will it be?" Lex turned his smirk on Kal. "I know you have to have several version of the Outright War Plan."

"The one that has Kara and I donning super suits and joining Oliver's Justice League," Kal said, shrugging. "We need more allies for that plan to work, not that I plan on telling Ollie everything. He's a little freaked out about the whole alien thing from what J'onn's said."

"Oh! I get to wear a cute cape and everything?" Kara squealed.

"If you want. We can design the costumes now," Kal said. He grinned at her applause. "Try not to make it too obnoxious, Kara. Human standards and Kryptonian standards aren't the same."

"Well, that's not an issue," Lex said thoughtfully. He cocked his head to the side. "You should make the suits very Kryptonian. That way you can claim to be just aliens and use your real names. People won't be looking for a secret identity if you're open about who you are as aliens."

"Not bad," Kal said, pressing a quick kiss on Lex's lips. "You're a natural at this."

"I am a Luthor," Lex said. His smile was much more genuine that time.

"And I'm a natural designer," Kara said, pushing Kal and Lex out of the way. "Lemme at the controls so that I can set up our suits, Cousin. Rao only knows what you'd come up with if left to yourself."

+++++

Kal smiled as Kara worked the controls to design them a pair of superhero outfits. He winced a little at the brightness of the colors she chose though he had no objection at all to red, yellow and blue. They were the tradition House of El colors, after all.

"You're really going to wear that?" Lex murmured to Kal. His eyes were locked on the display that showed the skin-tight battle suit Kara was creating for him.

"Probably," Kal said, nodding. "It's very Clark-ish, don't you think? All bright colors and too tight to distract from the face?"

Lex started snickering, giving Kal a sidelong look that mingled lust, love and pure amusement. Kal's heart clenched at how beautiful Lex was. He still had a hard time believing that he'd made it back to the present. He would be eternally grateful that he'd earned Lex's trust and love as well.

"This might take a while," Kal murmured to Lex. "Want to take a tour?"

"Somewhere more private?" Lex asked. His heart rate picked up as his eyes dilated slightly.

"Absolutely," Kal whispered.

"Let's go," Lex said, tugging at Kal's hand.

Kara barely looked up as they left though there was an amused smirk on her lips. She was blushing so Kal suspected that she knew exactly where they were going. He didn't bother with a proper tour. Instead he took Lex directly to the main bedroom. It was warm enough that Lex looked too hot in his clothes. That apparently suited him perfectly because Lex took one look around and immediately started stripping to his skin.

"Been too long," Lex growled as he tugged at Kal's clothes.

"Yes." Kal helped him strip his clothes off, his mind flying back to all the moments that had made him appreciate this moment with Lex.

"Do you really think that this Lex of yours is so stupid?" Marcus asked. "You said that he was the smartest of men. Should not such an intelligent man have realized your differences?"

He had only just finished teaching Clark the basic Latin alphabet. Clark had only been there a few months so Marcus still spoke slowly and carefully for him. He hoped that he'd be able to communicate better soon. It was so hard not knowing what was going on around him.

"Is maybe," Clark admitted a little sheepishly in his broken Latin. "But never said. Would say, yes?"

"Was he an honorable man?" Marcus asked with such a lovingly amused expression that Clark went beet red. "No honorable man would challenge a friend if they tried to hide so obvious an ability."

Clark paused with his mouth open. He closed it again after a long moment. Lionel wasn't honorable at all but Lex was. He didn't do things the way Clark expected but he had a sort of code and he followed it.

"I think… yes," Clark whispered as he stared at the wobbly Latin letters he'd written. Marcus laid his hand on Clark's shoulder, startling him into looking up.

"Then he was waiting for you to be ready to tell him," Marcus said gently.

Lex moaned and tugged Kal towards the bed. Kal chuckled, holding Lex in place. He saw no point to hurrying things that much. They'd never done this here. It seemed almost blasphemy to rush their first sexual encounter in the Fortress, his replica of Krypton on Earth.

"Kal," Lex protested.

Kal cut the protest off with a tender kiss that quickly morphed into a clinging, gasping, hip-rocking clench where they all but raped each other's mouths. Lex, his Lex, finally all his.

"I hate him," Antonius whispered one night after they'd been lovers for three years.

"Who?" Kal asked, started out of his growing slumber.

"Your Lex," Antonius sighed. "You love him so damned much."

"I don't love Lex," Kal protested. "What makes you think that I do, Antonius?"

Antonius laughed, a short bark that held no humor in it. He rolled away from Kal to stare out the window into the garden. Kal frowned and hesitantly put his hand on Antonius' hip. He sighed. It took a moment for the tension to drain out of Antonius' body.

"You say his name in your sleep, Kal," Antonius admitted. "You mention him a dozen times a day. I would wager the entire estate that you could paint his picture with enough accuracy that it would be like he was looking back at me."

"I…" Kal trailed off, unsure what to say to that. He did dream about Lex so it wasn't a surprise that he said his name in his sleep. He knew he talked about Lex all the time. And Lex had never faded in his memory, unlike Pete and Lana and Chloe. Of course Mom and Dad were still clear so that probably didn't mean that much.

Instead he cuddled close behind Antonius, gently wrapping his arms around his lover. Antonius laughed sadly. A minute or so later he patted Kal's hand.

"Sorry," Kal whispered.

"I know," Antonius murmured back.

"Bed," Lex panted once their lips parted.

"Mmm, not yet," Kal murmured as he kissed his way down Lex's neck. "Don't want to rush this. Want to enjoy being with you, Lex."

"Oh God, you're going to kill me," Lex groaned.

"Good way to go," Kal chuckled.

He nuzzled and then licked a stripe along Lex's trapezius, grinning at his shudder of delight. Kal trailed his tongue along Lex's collarbone and then down to his nipple. Lex's chest shuddered and he locked his fingers into Kal's hair, trying to push him further down.

"Uncle!" Antonia squealed, running over to fling herself into Kal's arms without the slightest worry about his catching her. "Uncle Kal!"

"Hey sweetie," Kal laughed. He lifted her up and into the air, making her fly for a moment before hugging her close. "What's got you so excited?"

"It's my birthday!" Antonia giggled. "I'm five today. What's my present? Huh? What's my present?"

She tugged at Kal's tunic squirming and giggling happily. Kal grinned but shook his head no. He wasn't going to tell her. Her mother would be upset and Antonius had made him promise not to reveal the surprise party planned for later. He'd been there when she'd been conceived. He was all but her second father, for all that he'd never touched her mother. They both loved Antonius so it had worked out and Kal considered Antonia to be one of the biggest blessings of his exile. She'd almost made it worthwhile to lose Lex and everyone else.

"Uncle," Antonia whined.

"What do you want instead?" Kal asked as he rubbed his nose against hers.

She giggled and kissed him before snuggling against his neck. "I want a story. Tell me about your Lex again?"

"Again?" Kal asked, surprised. "Do I tell you about him that much?"

"Uh-huh," Antonia said as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "He's your favorite story ever. But that's okay. He sounds gorgeous. I want a Lex of my own someday."

Kal swallowed hard at the realization that he'd been in the past for ten years now and Lex had yet to fade at all. He couldn't remember what Mom's cooking tasted like but every one of Lex's eyelashes and freckles were clear in his mind.

"Well," Kal said, sitting in the garden with Antonia in his lap, "why don't I tell you about the time Lex knocked me off of the bridge?"

"Ooo, I love that story, Uncle!"

"So do I, sweetie. So do I."

Lex yanked on Kal's hair, trying much harder to get him to move past his nipples. Kal laughed and finally allowed Lex to push him lower. He settled happily onto his haunches. Lex's erection pressed against his cheek. Kal slowly licked Lex's full length.

"Taste so good…"

"Oh fucking hell, Kal…"

Lex's voice sounded almost broken. His knees shook so Kal supported him, using his strength to ensure that he could worship Lex's cock the way it deserved to be. Lex moaned and gently rocked his hips as Kal licked, kissed and eventually sucked him into his mouth. Kal felt like he would explode from happiness or maybe break into tears. He wasn't sure which at first but then Lex started moving and Kal was able to settle back and enjoy.

"Grandfather," Alexa said as she led a very unhappy looking slave boy into the room by his arm, "are you sure that you want this slave as yours?"

"Yes," Kal declared. He smiled at the boy who had reminded him of what Lex was really like. "I want him, not someone else."

"All right," Alexa said reluctantly. "I'll check on you in a couple of hours."

She gave the boy's arm a hard shake before leaving them alone. Kal chuckled, watching the boy until he glared at Kal defiantly. He was nearly as dark as Pete, with narrow lips and a nose that had been broken at least once. His dark eyes snapped with anger.

"Thank you," Kal said to him.

"What? What for?" the boy demanded.

"You reminded me who Lex really is," Kal said serenely. "You reminded me who I really am."

"You're insane," the boy grumbled as he edged further away from Kal.

"I know," Kal said. "You should probably clean the room and change the sheets. Alexa will be upset if you don't do anything."

The boy grumbled and set to work. He was a sloppy worker, making bad corners on the sheets and barely brushing the top layer of dust. His cheeks heated every time he caught Kal watching him. Eventually he stopped working and turned to glare at Kal with his hands on his hips.

"What's so great about this Lex you dreamed up?" the boy demanded.

"He…" Kal paused, trying to put it into words. He laughed shakily after a second. "I love him. He's brilliant, talented, demanding, impossible, so curious that he literally twitches when he encounters something new. He's beautiful, all pale skin and blue eyes. He's athletic. He's everything I ever wanted."

"And a fantasy," the boy snorted.

"No, he's real," Kal said. "He just hasn't been born yet."

Kal laughed at the boy's disgusted look. He settled back against the cushions and looked out at the garden. Yes, taking this boy as his servant had been the right choice. He needed the resistance. It had been so long since anyone actually challenged him that he'd forgotten what it was like. He hadn't realized how much he needed the challenges that Lex gave him just by being Lex.

"It doesn't matter," Kal said. "He's real. I just have to make my way back to him. It's going to take a long, long time but he's worth it."

"Why?" the boy asked in a tone of voice that made Kal think he'd stopped listening.

"Because I love him." Kal admitted for possibly the first time ever. The boy paid no attention but it didn't matter if he listened or not. Kal knew it now, though he suspected that he'd known that he loved Lex from the first moment they met.

Lex tugged at Kal's hair desperately.

"Can't!" His hips were pulsing desperately in Kal's mouth in counterpoint to his hands that seemed to want Kal to stop.

Kal took Lex even deeper into his throat instead. One benefit of being an ancient Kryptonian was he didn't need to breathe. Lex shouted something strangled and came hard down Kal's throat. Kal smiled around his cock, swallowing it all.

"Oh fucking hell," Lex panted, swaying in Kal's grip. "Can we please get on the bed?"

Kal chuckled and licked his lips. Lex groaned. He locked his knees and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. When he looked down at Kal his eyes were fond and amused, as well as lusty. He bent over to cup Kal's cheeks between his hands.

"Kal, bed," Lex said. "Let me make this real for you."

Kal started, feeling suddenly very much like Clark. He wasn't used to people seeing through him that easily, though he shouldn't be surprised. It was Lex. He opened his mouth to say something but Lex cut it off with a gentle, tender kiss.

"I can tell when you get caught in your past," Lex whispered. "Come on. Bed. Let me bring you back to the now, Kal. Stop living for me and live with me."

"I thought I was supposed to be the wise one," Kal laughed shakily.

"I was born wise," Lex said in a mock-portentous voice that made them both start snickering.

Kal stood, kissing Lex again. They stumbled backwards to the bed, continuing to kiss and grope each other. It didn't take very long before Lex was hard again. Kal relaxed back on the bed, purring as Lex worshiped his body the same way he'd worshiped Lex. Every time memories of his past intruded with images of how he'd realized how much Lex meant to him Lex saw it and brought him back with a touch, kiss or word.

"Mine," Lex breathed as he spread Kal open and pushed in.

"Yes!" Kal gasped.

His purr stuttered and then increased as Lex fucked him. Kal let the past go. It didn't matter exactly when he fell in love with Lex. It didn't matter that he was quite literally obsessed with him. All that mattered was that they were together. They had each other and nothing would ever tear them apart again, not Lionel, not Brainiac, not Ollie's paranoia, nothing.

"Lex!" Kal shouted as he came hard.

"Kal," Lex groaned, pushed over the edge by Kal's orgasm.

They collapsed together on the bed, limbs tangled together in a sweaty, comfortable mess. Lex chuckled, shifting position to clean the two of them up. Kal helped and then pulled Lex back into his arms.

"Think we should get up and see how obnoxious the costumes are?" Kal asked.

"In a minute," Lex murmured sleepily. "You're all mine right now. I'm not sharing you quite yet."

"Yeah." Kal sighed happily. He hugged Lex. "Always yours. Forever."

+++++

"So why are we here?" Oliver asked Chloe.

"Clark wants to introduce us to his cousin," Chloe said, "and apparently he's got some big announcement he wants to share. He didn't tell me everything when he asked me to set this up."

"Hmm," Oliver murmured.

He wasn't comfortable with this. Ever since Clark had taken over the Marcellus fortune and revealed his alien ancestry to the League Oliver had had the uncomfortable feeling that something was being concealed from him. It wasn't just Clark's history. There was more to it. Oliver was certain that J'onn was somehow working for Clark though he had no idea why or what for. It didn't seem like they were up to anything terrible but Oliver had far too much experience with people who's apparent actions didn't match their motivations or ultimate goals to be comfortable with Clark or J'onn lately.

The Watchtower echoed with the others' chatting once they got to the top floor. The rest of the team was there, along with Lex, Clark and a pretty young woman who had to be Clark's cousin Kara. He could see a resemblance between them despite the differences in their coloring. Dinah immediately moved to Oliver's side, wrapping her hand around his elbow in a move that was obviously proprietary.

"She seems nice," Dinah commented in a tone that she probably thought was neutral but polite. It came out a bit suspicious and hostile.

"Young," Oliver said, shrugging to reassure her. "They say yet what's going on? Or why Lex is here too?"

"No, not yet," Dinah replied. "I get the feeling that he doesn't trust Clark in the same room with you. You two were rivals at school, weren't you?"

"Ah, well, not exactly," Oliver allowed as his cheeks flushed red for a second. "I kind of bullied him."

Dinah raised one eyebrow at him as her lips curled into an amused smirk. She laughed as his cheeks went brighter red. It was strange how much their shared history continued to bother Oliver. He would have thought that he'd left it behind years ago but every time he interacted with Lex it came back.

"Great," Clark said as he spotted Oliver and Dinah in the opposite corner of the room. "Everyone's here. Um, everyone, this is my cousin Kara. I wanted you all to meet her."

"Hi!" Kara said. She beamed at them all and waved one hand cheerfully. The little bounce she put into it had Bart's eyes locked on her bust but that was Bart.

"So what's the big announcement?" Chloe asked. "Meeting Kara could have happened anywhere, not just here."

Clark visibly quailed for a second. He turned to Lex who smiled gently and patted his elbow. Oliver had to fight a moment's disorientation at seeing such a tender expression Lex Luthor's face. He would have expected a smirk instead. Maybe getting together had changed Lex more than Oliver was willing to admit.

"We're going to be super heroes!" Kara said with a cheer that had her flinging her arms up in the air and hovering with her feet off of the ground.

"Kara," Lex scolded. "Let Clark explain, please."

"Oh come on," Kara groaned. She shifted around so that she was sitting in mid air with her legs crossed. "He'll take all day at it."

"Kara," Clark and Lex said in perfect unison. She blew a raspberry at them and pouted with her chin on her fist.

Dinah started laughing quietly at Kara's dramatics. Oliver was more focused on her casual control of her abilities. She seemed younger than Clark but obviously had more control of her abilities than he did. The others looked equally amused, other than Clark who looked nervous and Lex who had put on a grim but mildly amused expression.

"There's a reason for it," Clark said with a big gulp that made Oliver pay closer attention. "Our homeworld was destroyed, you know. That's why we were sent here. Um, we thought that the thing that destroyed Krypton had been destroyed with it but it wasn't. It was sent here too. It's free and we're really afraid that it's going to try and continue its agenda here. That would be very bad for Earth and the human race."

"What is it?" Oliver asked. He straightened up at the thought of some world-destroyer free on Earth. "What does it want?"

"It's called the Brain Interactive Construct, or Brainiac," Clark said with a grim expression that aged him far beyond his years. "It wants to free General Zod from the Phantom Zone so that he can take over the world and remake it into a new Krypton."

"Which was as cold and icy as the Arctic," Lex said just as grimly. "Traditionally Kryptonians looked at other races, especially ones without spaceflight, as sub-human. Sub-Kryptonian, actually, but its functionally the same thing. Humanity would be decimated and then the survivors would become slaves."

Oliver turned to look at J'onn. As the only other alien, and one with a familiarity with Clark's people, he seemed the best person to confirm it. The grim, frightened look on his face was enough to make Oliver take it completely seriously.

"All right," Oliver said for the rest of the team. "We'll need to know exactly what we're dealing with and what you two can do. Do you need costumes? We can probably set something up."

"We got it covered!" Kara said with a huge grin. "I designed them. They're perfect even if I do say so myself."

Lex started chuckling in a decidedly wicked way. Between his chuckle and Kara's delight, Clark's face went flamingly red. Chloe grinned with her arms crossed over her chest. AC, Bart and Victor looked at them impatiently. J'onn just raised one eyebrow and cocked his head at Clark and Kara.

"I do like the colors," Clark said as he sighed and pulled his flannel off and passed it to Lex. "Just not sure about the suit itself."

"It's perfect!" Kara huffed. She blurred and suddenly she was floating in mid air with a skimpy skirt, breast baring top and a short red cape. The red, blue and gold of her suit were so bright that Oliver winced. "It couldn't be anything but perfect since I made it. We have the traditional House of El colors with our family's shield and a cool cape, too."

Clark sighed, shrugged and blurred out of his clothes. His suit was just as bright but it covered far more of his body. Chloe started snickering though she raised a hand to hide her grin at the way Clark shifted uncomfortably under their gaze. Dinah's long look of appraisal (right at Clark's far too clearly defined groin) made Oliver glare at her. She smirked and pressed up against his side, eyes still lingering on Clark's body.

Oliver exchanged an annoyed look with Lex, wondering why Lex hadn't vetoed the suit's tightness. There was no way Lex would want everyone eyeing his boyfriend's package all the time. Lex rolled his eyes and micro-shrugged, looking quickly at Kara who was bouncing in mid-air with delight at Clark's suit. He kind of suspected that Lex and Clark had lost the argument with Kara on how tight the suit should be.

"Uh dude?" Bart said while staring straight at Clark's crotch. "Are you sure about this?"

"At least no one is going to look at my face," Clark sighed. "I still think it needs to be a little looser, Kara."

"Are you kidding?" Kara squawked. "It's perfect! If you make it looser than it won't properly protect your body! The sensors in the suit's fabric won't realize that you're being hit and won't adjust so that the fabric doesn't get torn."

"I'd rather have something looser," Clark protested. "This is… a little much."

"You know that it can't be looser if you want the fabric to work properly," Kara said with a pout that made her look years younger than she seemed to be. "I could make you shorts or something but I didn't think you'd want to wear shorts over the top. Besides, you're right. This way no one will be looking at your face and that's good, right?"

"Be that as it may," Lex said as he waved both Clark and Kara off from what had to be an on-going argument about the suits' designs, "we do have to deal with Brainiac and my father. Which, Oliver? Brainiac has… either coerced or tricked my father into working for him. We're not sure what Father's up to but it can't be anything good. From what we have been able to discover Brainiac is the one funding Lionel's new empire. He appears to have embezzled money from multinationals across the world to funnel it into Lionel's hands. He's a living computer so I imagine it was child's play for him."

Oliver nodded slowly. It made sense of several things that had been bothering him about Lionel's sudden return to money and power. He still wanted to know how they'd found out and how they'd tracked the money at last but that could wait for a little later. The most important issue was stopping Brainiac and dealing with Lionel.

"All right," Oliver said once he'd looked at the others and gotten nods of approval, "welcome aboard. Let's head up to the station so we can talk privately."

Clark and Lex hung back as the others trooped to the transporter. Bart was trying to peek up Kara's skirt at the same time he was trying to see down her top. She seemed to find it cute and funny rather than annoying. Oliver looked back at Clark and Lex, a little annoyed at the thought of Lex getting to see the station.

"You'll be okay down here alone?" Clark asked just barely loud enough for Oliver to hear him.

"Go on," Lex said with a comforting nod. "This is your time to shine. I'll keep busy enough down here."

"You're not…?" Oliver asked them, gesturing towards the transporter.

"No," Lex said with an almost resigned smile. "I'm not a super hero. Clark and Kara know just as much as I do. There's no need for me to go up."

Everyone else had gone up by the time Clark and Lex shared a quiet goodbye kiss. Oliver shivered at the way they looked at each other. He'd never seen anyone look that wrapped up in another person before. Lex's expression was one of love and devotion but it was Clark's look back at Lex that made Oliver's stomach churn. He'd always thought that Lex was the obsessive one, not farm boy Clark.

"He's changed," Oliver commented as he pushed the button to take them to the station.

"No, he's the same," Clark said with a wry smile that was far too old for his years. "He's just letting things show that he always kept hidden before. So what's the station like?"

"Come and see, Boy Scout," Oliver said with a proud grin. The station wasn't his design but it was his baby. He'd helped fund the thing and he was as proud of it as any papa would be of their child.

"Actually, I thought I'd go with the name Superman, if that's all right. I think it'll work as a code name," Clark said hesitantly. He shrugged at Oliver's raised eyebrow and then his eyes went wide as the transporter door opened to reveal the lounge area. "Whoa."

"Welcome to the Justice League, Superman," Oliver said as he laughed at Clark's awed expression. "Glad to finally have you aboard."

+++++

"Ah, Virgil Swann," Kal said in his best jovial Antonio tone of voice. "Welcome, welcome. You wanted to see me?"

"Yes," Swann said with a lightning quick look around the room before he strode over to shake Kal's hand. "I did. I had some questions about the letter you sent me. The ideas you gave me are brilliant sir, but shouldn't you be the one to develop them?"

"Are they?" Kal asked as if he was surprised by Swann's approval of the ideas. "I am pleased that you find them valuable. Truly, my young friend, I thought that my dreams were simply dreams but having heard you speak so many times of the possibilities of space I thought that perhaps you might make more of them than simply figments of my sleeping mind."

Swann stopped and stared at Kal with his mouth dropped open for a moment before snapping it shut. He shook his head abruptly before peering at Kal as if to see if he were being teased. Kal had a hard time keeping his politely surprised expression in place. Virgil as a young graduate student was a very different person from the esteemed and reclusive Dr Virgil Swann that Clark had known so long ago and a few decades into the future, but he was still incredibly brilliant and highly perceptive. Every time they met Kal felt like he was tempting fate. The last thing he wanted to do was accidentally change the future when he was so close to getting back to where he belonged.

"Your idea came from a dream?" Virgil demanded.

"Indeed," Kal said, shrugging as he got a glass of wine. He nodded at Virgil's refusal of a glass before sipping slowly. "They were quite odd dreams, full of snatches of math I simply do not understand and rooms orbiting above the planet like tiny moons."

"How could such an incredible idea come from a dream?" Virgil groaned.

He seemed to regard the apparent origin of the idea as negating its value, which was the last thing that Kal wanted. His careful manipulation of Virgil's life so that he would be the one to intercept and interpret the message from Krypton keyed in on getting Virgil to work with the concept of satellite communication. If that meant getting him to accept that dreams had value, so be it. Kal would do whatever it took to get back to Lex.

"The mind has depths that go far beyond what people normally accept," Kal said in a somewhat too thoughtful for Antonio tone of voice. "Dreams are not just nonsensical fancies that our minds churn out while we sleep, my friend. I firmly believe that dreams give us access to deeper truths. Some dreams may give us glimpses of the future or past, if only we listen."

Kal laughed at the expression on Virgil's face. He looked as though he was trying to pay attention but he was unable to stay awake without biting his cheek. Virgil had the grace to blush at Kal's laugh though he shrugged as if it was to be expected. Kal waved his glass of wine at Virgil, grinning widely.

"You do not have to accept my beliefs about dreams to believe that the idea is valid, my friend," Kal said. "The ideas themselves have value, no matter what their origin may be. Though I do think you should not dismiss dreams out of hand. Sometimes the mind has ways of communicating that we do not understand at first."

"Well, they are incredible ideas," Virgil said. "Are you sure that you don't want credit for the ideas?"

"No, no, not at all," Kal said, waving the offer off. "I have no interest in doing the work to transform the ideas into reality. Do with my ideas as you wish, and I wish you nothing but good from them."

Virgil perked up and beamed at Kal. He started talking animatedly about how the idea could be used. Kal asked careful questions that pointed Virgil at the idea of not only communications but also living in space. Given all the dangers that Kal knew dwelled outside of Earth's atmosphere, it would be good to have another person attempting to prepare for them. Brainiac's inevitable arrival was only one of the threats that Kal worried about when he thought beyond his plans.

"Oh wow, I didn't mean to take up so much of your time, Antonio," Virgil said after an hour of back and forth that had appeared to firm up some of Virgil's ideas.

"Do not feel guilty for it, my friend," Kal said as he patted Virgil's shoulder. "I am always glad to talk to you. You see so much and think so far ahead that it is quite reassuring. My own gaze is of necessity much more limited."

"You've got a good twenty years before that… happens," Virgil said uncomfortably.

"Very true," Kal said with a wry smile and shrug. "But twenty years is a very short time when that's all that you have. Now, I do have a meeting to attend to. Please do not hesitate to call me should you have anything you wish to discuss. Our friendship is important to me and I enjoy our discussions so."

Virgil nodded and grinned as he shook Kal's hand before departing. Kal sighed once he was gone. Another step closer to home, closer to Lex. He only hoped that his memories of Oliver's station were semi-accurate. He'd only heard mentions of it before his trip to the past so he was operating mostly blind in this regard. At least Virgil would be studying astronomy and satellites. That much he knew was necessary for the future.

"I'm almost home, Lex," Kal murmured as he gazed out over New York City. "Only a few more decades and we'll be together again."

+++++

"I don't see why I can't just tell her everything," Kal sighed as he fidgeted with the hem of his tunic. "She already knows I'm more or less immortal, Antonius."

They were nearly to Antonius' new bride's home for the start of their wedding. The morning was bright and clear. Kal was pretty sure that by the time evening hit it would be swelteringly hot but for now it was just the right side of crisp. The others around them pretended not to listen in on their conversation, including Marcus who couldn't quite keep the little smile off his lips as Antonius groaned.

"There are some things which should not be shared freely, Kal," Antonius said. "We have had this conversation many times. She is from a high family and while they are aware of your differences, she very likely is not. She is a woman and has likely been sheltered from the realities of life. I cannot believe that you made it to manhood without learning the value of keeping secrets, my friend."

"I know how to keep secrets," Kal grumbled in what even he knew was a pout. "I just don't like it. You're supposed to marry her. I hate the thought of keeping secrets from her. I mean, we're um, still together and she's going to see me every day. I don't even know her name yet."

Antonius laughed, patting Kal's shoulder. He looked completely amused by Kal's horror at the thought of marrying someone he'd never met. The idea of it was appalling to Kal, raised on the 20th centuries ideas of love and honor, but to Antonius and apparently to his new bride, the marriage was simply a union of their two families. Love was something to develop later, if they were lucky.

"Her name is Chloe," Antonius said with a huge grin, "which honors her family's patron's mother, as well as the Goddess Demeter. Father finally unbent far enough to tell me her name this morning."

"Oh," Kal breathed.

"What?" Antonius looked at him curiously, apparently seeing how dazed Kal felt.

"My best friend back home was named Chloe," Kal explained. "She's not a short, determined, inquisitive blond, is she?"

Antonius burst out laughing, making the others in the wedding party stare at them curiously. He shrugged but didn't answer as the butler announced their arrival for the ceremony. Once they were inside, it really wasn't that different from what Kal was used to for a wedding. Chloe was as tall as Lois, so she was a good height compared to Antonius, who was really big for this age. Under her veil, her hair looked reddish, not blond or brown.

Kal stayed with the other witnesses and Marcus, watching silently as his lover was married to someone else. It hurt, not that he could admit that to anyone. Antonius had looked at him oddly when he'd confided the pain a few weeks back. No one else saw any conflict between having a lover and having a wife. No matter how much it bothered Kal, he wasn't going to block the marriage. He didn't feel like he had the right, not when he knew that he was inevitably going to outlive Antonius.

Antonius and Chloe exchanged rings of iron. When the priest asked if anyone objected to the union, Kal bit his tongue and did his best to look happy for them. It wasn't as though he could give Antonius an heir. No one else spoke either. They held hands and exchanged their vows to stay together, Chloe with a shy blush that Kal could see through her veil.

They sat with the sacrificial lamb pelt while the priest offered the ceremonial bread to the house gods. Once he was done with that Antonius and Chloe ate the bread while the priest prayed over them and the rest of the wedding party. That seemed to last forever but actually wasn't too long. Everyone cheered when it was done, pressing forward to offer their congratulations to Antonius and Chloe. Kal waited until nearly last, a little shy around this new Chloe who was so different from his Chloe. She looked up at him as curiously as he looked at her, but her smile was kind.

The dinner Chloe's father presented for everyone was lavish in the extreme. Kal did his best to eat without floundering himself or getting drunk. Antonius was being very careful about how much he drank and Chloe barely drank any wine at all. That made the wedding procession back to Marcus' house much more bearable, though quite a few of the wedding party were almost falling down drunk by the time they left. Chloe's mother pretended to try and keep her from going with Antonius once they got home but she was laughing too hard for it to be taken seriously.

Kal was kind of shocked at how many people joined the procession but it made the whole thing really fun. People sang and played instruments as they walked. There were lots of cheers and bawdy advice thrown at Antonius and Chloe from the crowd. Kal blushed nearly as hard as she did at some of the advice. The whole way back they threw walnuts for some reason. He decided that later he'd have to ask Marcus why, after everything had settled down.

"Where you go, I go," Chloe said in a low, slightly shaking voice once they got back home.

"Where you go, I go," Antonius agreed.

Antonius picked Chloe up and carried her over the threshold. Kal stayed in the rear while the rest of the wedding progressed. He could watch easily enough from there and this was their time together. The hearth was lit and the blown out torch was tossed like a bouquet to the guests. Antonius gave Chloe the keys to the house, or at least the second set of keys. Kal had the other set, which made him blush twice as hard as he had been. He hadn't realized when Antonius gave them to him just what it meant.

Marcus' sister said the prayers over the wedding bed, blessing them with all the happiness that she had had and everything that the gods could give them. Kal didn't join in singing the naughty songs that followed while they were shooed out of the bridal chamber. He really didn't want to think of Antonius doing that with Chloe, even though he knew that it was required.

Once the house emptied of the guests a few hours later, Kal went out into the garden and stared at the sky. Krypton's sun was just rising over the garden wall. Two thousand years separated him from his home, his friends and Lex. In the darkness of the garden Kal sighed.

Maybe Antonius was right about not telling Chloe everything right away. No matter what he felt about Antonius, they wouldn't be together forever. Kal was destined to leave him by virtue of his long life. At least with Chloe he'd have the chance of a normal life. Kal cared too much for Antonius to deny him that, even if he did want to drop all the secrets and live as normal as possible of a life here in the distant past.

Maybe someday he'd be able to do that, to live like a normal person, but not yet. Not for a long time to come. Secrets had been a part of his existence for as long as he could remember. He just hoped that they didn't come to define him over the long years it took to get home.

+++++

"That looks like it," Patricia said from her place at the keyboard. "I think we have all of the data, father."

"Good," Virgil said.

He used the controls on his wheelchair to shift position behind her. As she slowly scrolled through the data that they'd gathered he scanned it, checking for errors. There were none that he could see so he nodded for her to send it onwards to Kal. Hopefully the latest scan of the ship in orbit would reveal how Brainiac had escaped. Virgil wasn't sure how it had happened but at least Kal's plans and security system should ensure that he couldn't infiltrate the League's station.

"You are a highly irritating little man," a man's voice said from the doorway to the rest of the mansion.

Virgil turned his wheelchair and frowned at the sight of Bridgette dangling like a bloody rag doll from Brainiac's right hand. The walking computer looked almost exactly like a man, other than the slightly too smooth motion and the faintest of metallic hues to his eyes. Patricia gasped and interposed her body between Brainiac and Virgil, foolishly trying to defend him.

"Patricia! Behind me!" Virgil snapped at her.

"Father!" Patricia gasped. She winced at the look on his face and moved behind him as he'd ordered.

"Amusing," Brainiac said with a smirk that was a very good copy of amusement.

He truly was a stunning piece of programming. Bridgette dropped from his bloody hand to the floor. She didn't move, didn't breathe, didn't moan. Virgil's heart ached for her loss but there was nothing that he could do for her now. She was gone and he had secrets to protect and a daughter to save if at all possible.

"I'm almost impressed by the security systems you've developed," Brainiac said while slowly stalking closer to the two of them. "I hadn't thought that a human could come up with something effective enough to keep me out. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect that you had Kryptonian assistance."

Virgil didn't respond. He kept his face as still as the rest of his body. Behind him Patricia let out a tiny breath that was very close to a moan of fear. She knew as well as he did just how much danger they were in. Brainiac's expression shifted into something harder, more mechanical. His anger made Virgil feel better. He hadn't been completely certain that the defenses on the station and the computer system would be sufficient. It was nice to know that they had been.

"Killing us won't get you the information that you want," Virgil said. "Only one person in the world holds the keys to the station's security. You're quite welcome to go after the Historian yourself, should you wish to. Neither Patricia nor I have what you want, Brainiac."

Brainiac's body shifted into an odd mixture of metallic liquid and hard points of crystal. Patricia's gasp was highly audible in the deadly quiet of Virgil's study. A second or so later, the column of living computer split in two, forming two perfectly identical versions of Brainiac. Both of them glared at Virgil. Before Patricia could react, the right Brainiac zipped around Virgil's chair, hauling her out of her hiding place so that Virgil could watch Brainiac strangling her.

"You may think that you're well defended," the left Brainiac said. He approached the keyboard that Patricia had been working on and touched it. His hands merged into the keys, covering it in black liquid. "You're not."

"Actually I am," Virgil said as calmly as he could with his former lover dead and his daughter about to die before his eyes.

Both Brainiacs stiffened as a surge of electricity shot through the Brainiac at the computer. It was more than enough to kill an elephant on the spot but Brainiac only stumbled backwards, his form going liquid for precisely two point three seconds. The Brainiac holding Patricia loosened his grip enough for her to gasp for air.

"Don't give it what it wants, Father!" Patricia croaked. She tried to kick Brainiac in the groin but it had no effect.

"I won't," Virgil assured her.

"You will," both Brainiacs said at once. "You will give us what we want or the girl dies."

"You'll kill her anyway," Virgil said. "You can't allow us to live after having revealed yourself. We were dead as soon as you showed up."

Brainiac's expression slid into something that looked utterly feral and inhuman. It wasn't an expression that Virgil had ever seen on a human being and he knew that this was likely the last thing that he would ever see. He didn't look away from Brainiac's face as the other Brainiac abruptly snapped Patricia's neck and tossed her to the floor next to Bridgette.

"You will tell me," Brainiac said.

"No, that is the one thing that I will never do," Virgil said.

Calm descended over him. He'd known for years that associating with the Historian was going to get him killed. There were so many secrets about the Kryptonians and about the Historian himself that Virgil had been told or deduced. For years his mind had been his refuge against the limitations his body imposed upon him. All of the limitations were about to end. It was a relief.

Brainiac merged his two bodies together and advanced towards Virgil. Virgil smiled his tightest smile. The Historian would already be aware of what was happening. He would know to defend his plans against Brainiac's interference.

"I think you underestimate what I can do," Brainiac said. His hand transformed into a long steely spike.

"I think you underestimate our plans," Virgil said. " _Peace._ "

The one Kryptonian word made Brainiac pause for a few milliseconds, which was just long enough for the kill switch in Virgil's breathing apparatus to engage. A huge surge of electricity arced through his body, destroying the apparatus that kept him alive as well as destroying his brain. The last thing he saw was Brainiac's rage. Despite the pain, the last thing he felt was true peace. All the striving was over.

The world's fate rested in other hands from now on.

+++++

"The vaccines you requested we develop are complete, sir," Lionel's top scientist said eagerly as Lionel swept into the lab. "They were surprisingly easy to develop given their complexity."

"Excellent," Lionel said. "I'll want to test them immediately."

"Of course, sir," the scientist said as he checked a clipboard with what appeared to be a list of names. "We have some volunteers. If we… skirt the edge of the law we should have the trials done within a few months."

Lionel sneered at the man. He picked up a small vial of the vaccine and held it up to the light. It was faintly red-tinged when backlit. The scientist babbled about trials, volunteers, and avoiding the government's notice by keeping their 'volunteers' close to home. While Lionel had absolutely no problems with imprisoning their test subjects, he also had no intention of allowing anyone else to test the vaccines intended for himself and his son.

"An excellent plan, Doctor," Lionel said while peering into the vaccine intended to cure Lex. It was vividly green even when not backlit. "However, I'll be the first test subject."

"Sir!" the doctor gasped, horrified by the thought of it. "We haven't had any successes yet in the animal testing. It's terribly dangerous for you to…"

His voice cut off as Lionel pulled a gun out of his pocket and pointed it straight at the doctor's forehead. Lionel set Lex's vaccine down on the counter and gestured with the gun towards the other one, his vaccine.

"Get on with it, Doctor," Lionel said. "If you won't do it, I'll eliminate you and find someone else who will."

"This, sir, this is terribly dangerous," the doctor said. His voice and hands both shook but he did as Lionel ordered. "I understand your desire to stand by our company's product but…"

"Less talk, more vaccine," Lionel snarled.

He set the gun on the counter next to him and quickly shucked off his jacket, all the while watching the doctor closely to ensure that he didn't make any mistakes. By the time Lionel had his sleeve rolled up, the doctor was ready with the vaccine. Lionel kept his hand on the gun as the doctor swabbed his elbow and then carefully injected the vaccine.

It felt cold and then hot, like fire roaring through his veins. Lionel staggered backwards and sat on the end of one of the tables. The gun was in his hand, clenched tightly. He could see the doctor blathering on about something but the sounds coming out of his mouth made no sense. The pounding of Lionel's pulse in his ears drowned the noises out. After a minute or so, Lionel's heart slowed and the head rush faded.

"Silence," Lionel snapped at the doctor. "I'm fine. Quit being so idiotic."

"…Sir?"

"Prepare a dose of the other vaccine, Doctor," Lionel said. "Formal trials will wait for forty-eight hours. Do not begin testing until you have my personal approval, understood?"

"Yes, sir," the doctor said.

He prepared a dose of Lex's vaccine, packaged it in a protective case and handed it to Lionel with shaking hands. Lionel smiled as he took it. Whatever the Marcellus had done to his son, it would be undone. Fine had died to get this information to Lionel. No matter what Lex thought of him as a father, Lionel was his father and he would ensure that his son was safe and protected against this threat and every other threat.

"Start gathering our volunteers, doctor," Lionel ordered as he left. "I expect that this will be quite successful."

He didn't bother to listen to the doctor's babbling. There was entirely too much to do for him to worry about one doctor's mock-ethical crisis. No one that worked for Lionel truly had ethics. He wouldn't hire them if they did. A certain level of ruthlessness was required for working for LuthorCorp.

As the day progressed, Lionel felt better and better. Sounds seemed clearer. Colors were sharper. He felt far more energy than he had in a very long time, since he was a young man, in fact. By the time he returned to his penthouse on the far side of the city from Lex's penthouse, Lionel was all but bursting with energy and health. He got a brandy and went out onto the balcony to stare out over the city where Lex should be with his little Marcellus lover.

"I will save you, Lex," Lionel murmured. "I don't know what Clark did to you or how, but I will save you."

A brilliant light appeared over Lionel's head, as though a helicopter had just hit him with a spotlight. There wasn't any noise, though, no rotor blades battering the air or blast of wind rushing down at him. Lionel looked up and then dropped his glass of brandy.

"No," Lionel breathed. "Absolutely not possible!"

A UFO hovered over his head, black and menacing looking. The light shifted intensity. Something tugged at Lionel, sweeping him up and into the spaceship. Lionel staggered and fell to his knees. The interior of the ship was like nothing he'd ever seen, not that he could see much of it. Most of his surroundings were as dark as the ship itself, other than the area where Lionel knelt. That portion of the floor was lit from below, creating a column of light that surrounded him.

"Hello?" Lionel called. His voice barely echoed, giving him a feel for the size of the room. "Is anyone there?"

"So glad that you could make it," Fine's voice drawled from the darkness. "General Zod needs a vessel and I believe you'll do quite well. I would have preferred to take Clark Kent but he's a bit too well defended at the moment. It doesn't matter. General Zod was released when the Historian removed the AI from the Fortress, so this should be relatively simple."

"Who are you?" Lionel shouted, unable to see where Fine was, if it was Fine. It couldn't be Fine. He'd seen Milton Fine die horribly.

There was no answer. The light from the floor intensified until it burned Lionel's hands and legs. He shouted but the only response he got was a blinding beam of red light that speared into his chest. Lionel could feel someone or something pressing against his mind, shoving him out of the way. A mental closet formed, like the one his father used to shove Lionel into when he was a child.

"Yes," a strange voice said with Lionel's voice, "this will work quite well."

"No!"

Lionel tried to shout, tried to push the intruder from his mind. It didn't work. Instead the intruder shoved Lionel deeper into the mental closet, firmly shutting the door on Lionel. He could just barely feel his body doing things, standing up and moving around. Moments passed and even that sensation faded, leaving Lionel utterly alone in the darkness of his mind.

He tried to shout, tried to shove the door open but it was just as effective as it had been when he was five and locked in the closet. Lionel curled into a ball, hugging his knees as he tried not to cry. Boys didn't cry. Only weaklings cried. He wasn't a weakling. No matter what Daddy said, he wasn't a weakling. He was strong and he'd survive this. It was dark and cold and lonely but Lionel would survive no matter what happened to him.

+++++

Feliciano stared out over the cold, windy farm that Kal had installed him on. Denmark was a decent enough place but he hated it. He hated farming, hated tending the fields, really hated the animals. The time he'd spent working for Kal as his secretary had been wonderful but ever since Kal had decided that Feliciano had 'grown up enough', life had been miserable.

The proposed marriage to Anya and Kale's daughter was what was bothering him the most out of everything in his life. She was a lovely girl who seemed quite interested in Feliciano but he could not find it in his heart to care. He honestly thought that she could have been the Queen of Denmark and it wouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference.

She wasn't Kal.

Feliciano dropped the hoe that he'd been carrying. Enough and too much; he would not live this life. Kal had said many times that Feliciano was free to choose what life he lived. Very well then. He chose not to live as a farmer. Walking away from the farm and down the road towards the harbor where Kal's ship was moored was the easiest thing that Feliciano had ever done. By the time he was half a mile away from the farm he was running, following the curves of the road with joy in his heart.

Kal's house overlooked the harbor, small, compact and unassuming for such a powerful man. Most of his neighbors were unaware of how special Kal was. They stared as Feliciano ran past them and then pounded up the stairs to shove open the front door of Kal's house. There was no butler as Kal had none at this time. The cook poked her head out of the kitchen to stare when Feliciano slammed the door behind him.

Upstairs, Kal's library was empty. His bedroom was empty too. The office that Feliciano had spent so much time in while learning to read was empty. Feliciano ran back down the stairs and into the kitchen to stare wildly at the cook. Kal couldn't be gone. He couldn't!

"He's at the port," the cook said, staring at Feliciano as if he'd gone mad. "He said something about a trip."

"He can't leave!" Feliciano gasped.

He whirled and ran out of the kitchen, out of Kal's house and straight for the tall masts of Kal's ship. The sailors stared at him but the gangplank was still out once Feliciano got there. Kal was on the deck, talking to the captain. They all stared as Feliciano ran up and then nearly collapsed in front of Kal.

"Feliciano?" Kal asked, worry in his voice and the way he took Feliciano's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"I… have to talk to you," Feliciano said, panting and swallowing to ease the dryness of his mouth. "Now. Please."

"All right," Kal said. "My room."

Feliciano followed Kal into his room on the ship. Now that he was here in front of Kal, the certainty that had sent him running away from his life fled, leaving him nervous and worried. He'd never managed to be calm around Kal. The man had a positive talent for making Feliciano feel awkward and childish. Given his age, that wasn't too surprising but Feliciano wished that he could be calmer right now.

"What's wrong?" Kal asked once the door was shut.

"I cannot live as a farmer, Kal," Feliciano said. Going for bold, bald truth seemed better than beating around the bush. "I know that you want me to have a normal life but I cannot stand the thought of marrying and living there for the rest of my life. It's abhorrent."

"That's the sixth profession you've turned down," Kal sighed. He sat on his bunk and looked up at Feliciano with worried eyes. "I can't support you forever, Feliciano. You do eventually have to chose something to do with yourself."

"The only thing I want to do is stay close to you, Kal!" Feliciano said. The words came out more as a plea than the declaration he'd been going for. "You have no butler. I can do that for you. Let me stay as your secretary. Just… I cannot stand the thought of living apart from you. No!"

Kal started as Feliciano snapped at him, at the all-too-familiar expression on his face. Every time Feliciano had said this before, Kal had gotten that expression and quickly followed it with a lecture on how he understood Feliciano's gratitude for being freed but he would find someone else to care for in time.

"Stop ignoring what I'm saying!" Feliciano snapped. "I'm not blind to the fact that I was your slave but I was your slave for all of ten minutes, Kal. Gratitude has nothing to do with this. You keep telling me I need to choose what to do with my life and then denying my right to do it! I hate being away from you. Yours is the only mind I've ever encountered that can keep up with me. You are the only person who has ever made the attempt to understand me when I talk about math or history or anything I've learned. I cannot live with that girl. She's beautiful and kind and as dumb as a box of rocks!"

Kal burst out laughing. He stood and came to stand in front of Feliciano with his hands on his hips. The smile made him look so gorgeous, so much more attractive than anyone could be. Feliciano had no idea how Kal could believe that he should love someone else. His heart had been lost that very first moment when the King gave Feliciano to Kal. All it had taken was one look and he'd been gone.

"All right, all right," Kal chuckled. "You can stay with me. I'll let Anya and Kale know that their daughter will have to find another husband. I suppose I can have a butler / secretary for a few decades, if that's what you really want."

"What I really want is you," Feliciano said. He caught Kal's hand to keep him from backing off. "You're all that I've ever wanted and I know that you know it. I know that you're attracted to me, that I resemble your Lex. Kal, I don't care what you think. I will take no other lover than you. I will not marry someone just to appease your sense of propriety. The only place I wish to be is by your side and the only person I want in my bed is you. And don't you dare say that I don't know enough about sex to know what I want! You know perfectly well that I was no virgin when we met."

Kal's cheeks flushed bright in the dimness of his room. He opened his mouth but shut it again a few seconds later when nothing came out. Feliciano waited. It might have sounded like hyperbole but he was quite serious. If Kal would not accept him as a lover then so be it; he would live his life alone. The moments slowly piled up until a minute and then two had passed.

"I…" Kal's voice came out young and hesitant. "I've only ever had five lovers, Feliciano."

"Then make me number six for I will have no one else," Feliciano replied. He hesitated and cocked his head to the side. "If you want me, that is. I had thought that you did and refused to act because of my former slavery."

Kal groaned, shutting his eyes and letting his head tip backwards. He hadn't moved an inch either towards or away from Feliciano. When Kal looked at Feliciano a few moments later, all the desire that Feliciano had known was there showed in his eyes.

Their first kiss was tentative and awkward. Feliciano boldly pushed closer to Kal, cupping his cheeks in his hands while trying to show his former Master exactly what he felt. Kal moaned and then a rumbling sound rather like a purr echoed from his chest. Laughter bubbled up and Feliciano rested his forehead against Kal's forehead, still cupping his cheeks.

"I take it that purring is a good thing?" Feliciano asked.

"Yes," Kal whispered, still purring like a giant kitten. "I do want you. I always did. It's just… it's hard when my lovers die, Feliciano. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Feliciano murmured. "Take the joy you have while you can. Sorrow comes in its own time. Joy is fleeting and should never be pushed away. There's no way to know when the joy will end, after all."

+++++

"It goes right over there," Kal said as he pointed towards the correct part of the garden.

He restrained himself from picking up the marble statue. It wasn't easy to resist the urge to help. All six men Antonius had hired for the garden renovation struggled with rough hemp ropes and a wobbly wooden rolling thing to try and get the statue to where it belonged. Antonius chuckled from his spot by the door to the house, looking far too amused at Kal's efforts to lead the team of workers without giving them any physical assistance. The statue lurched and Kal reached out in spite of Antonius' orders not to help.

"Do not do it for them, Kal," Antonius warned.

"But it would be done so much faster," Kal complained quietly. "And they could be hurt."

"They will be hurt if you do everything for them."

The stern tone of his voice made Kal turn away from the workers and back to his lover and best friend. Three years after his marriage to Chloe, they were better friends than they had been before and the sex was the hottest thing that Kal had ever experienced. He still wasn't comfortable with touching Chloe but seeing Antonius with her regularly blew his mind. Antonius' stern look should have driven thoughts of sex out of his mind but it didn't. Instead it made him have to adjust his tunic. There was just something about Antonius that did it for Kal.

"How would I hurt them?" Kal asked in an undertone that shouldn't carry, rather than draw attention to his physical reaction. He couldn't help but steal little glances over his shoulder at the other men as they continued to work together to get the statue into place.

"You destroy their pride when you do everything for them," Antonius said very quietly. "They are men. This is their job. That you can do it with no effort at all makes them feel like they are worthless. Add that to their losing their wages if you do the work and you are doing real, physical harm in your insistence on over-protecting them, Kal."

Kal winced. He'd helped Antonius choose the men doing the work. Each and every one of them had a family to support and needed the money that this work would bring them. However, Antonius had decided to turn this into a learning experience for Kal, so they would only earn their pay if Kal directed and did not assist.

"Why are you doing this?" Kal asked with more resentment in his voice than he'd intended. He gave Antonius an apologetic look that made him smile.

"Because you must learn to lead, Kal," Antonius said.

He pushed away from the doorway and came to put his hands on Kal's shoulders. There was an amused, tender smile on his lips but his eyes were as serious as if they'd been in the forum and Antonius had been explaining how the legal system worked. Kal bit his lip, realizing that this was probably a direct result of one of the stories he'd told about Lex and Bart and the others back home. Someday, once he got back, he would have to be part of a team. If things worked out right, Kal might even have to lead the team.

"There's time for learning that," Kal said with none of the confidence he wanted to portray. He couldn't lie to Antonius, not with him staring Kal squarely in the eyes.

"I will not leave this world until you at least learn how to let those around you do their best without your aid," Antonius said. "You are so powerful, Kal, that you must learn to allow us to try our best before you aid us. Even then, you should not simply sweep in and do things for us once we have failed. If a mountain were falling or the ground to open up, I would never begrudge you your actions. But if it is something within human reach you must allow us to strive for it. Trying and failing, learning and eventually succeeding when we did not think it was possible is part of what makes us human."

"I feel human, Antonius," Kal sighed. "I grew up as a human. I thought I was a human until I was a teenager."

"True, but you were never normal," Antonius said so tenderly that Kal blushed brightly. The workers snickered but kept working. "Always you were stronger and faster. You learned to hide, not to excel. Just as a parent must let their child learn to walk on their own, even though they fall down and cry over and over, you must learn to let the people around you do their best."

Kal sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He understood what Antonius was saying intellectually but he didn't see how it applied to his life. Marcus had said the same thing a few years ago, though in very different words. It was hard for Kal to see how doing things for others could hurt them but when the two wisest people he'd ever met said the same thing, he had to believe that there was something to it.

"I'll keep working on it," Kal promised. "I don't get it but I will keep working on it."

"That is all I ask," Antonius said.

He ran a thumb over Kal's neck and made him shiver with arousal. Antonius smirked and kissed Kal before returning to the house. Kal sighed and made sure that his growing erection wasn't going to show too badly under his tunic. He'd gotten used to living in Rome but sometimes he really wished that he had a good pair of jeans. They were much better at keeping his response hidden than a tunic and a set of simple linen underclothes.

"Okay," Kal said after a moment that let him will down his erection, "how are we doing on the sculpture?"

+++++

"We were too late," Bart said as he zoomed back into the Watchtower. "Dr. Swann's already dead. It looks like Brainiac killed him and torched the place while we were meeting. There were at least four fire trucks there when I got there."

"I've tried to contact my father," Lex said from his place in front of his laptop, "but I'm not getting any response. His personal secretary is exceedingly rattled. It's obvious that something's happened to Father but he's afraid to say what it is."

"From what I've been able to see in the LuthorCorp computer system," Oliver said from his laptop on the other side of the room from Lex, "the viruses we were worried about has already been completed. Lionel took them from the researcher. The idiot had them inject him one dose, so whatever it was designed for, he's already got it."

"Damn," Kal sighed.

Kara exchanged a worried look with Kal. They both knew what the viruses meant. Lionel was prepared to be a vessel for Zod and if his secretary was terrified then he might have been taken already too.

"We need to do something," Kal said in Clark's worried tones.

"You're right," Chloe said from her spot on the couch with her laptop. "We really do. I've got surveillance footage of Lionel being abducted by a spaceship. That happened at almost the same time that the murder occurred, so apparently you're right that Brainiac can be in two places at once. He killed Dr. Swann at the same time as he kidnapped Lionel."

Kal gave Oliver his best puppy eyes. It was hard not to step up and demand that they start work right away. Even all these centuries later it was a challenge to keep from doing everything for those around him. He knew more than they did about the threat that Lionel and Brainiac represented, more than Kara did, but that was no reason for him to destroy his plans and overplay his hand. This had to be Oliver's choice. He was the League's leader.

"Okay, we need to move," Oliver said as he shut his computer down. "If you're right that Brainiac is using Lionel, then we need to get Lionel away from him as soon as possible. Do we have any idea what he'd want Lionel for?"

"The only thing that makes sense to me," Kara said slowly, "is that he'd want to transfer General Zod into Lionel's body. Zod's body was destroyed when he was sent into the Phantom Zone. Brainiac's goal has always been to help Zod rule the universe, so getting him a body would be the first step."

"My father's going to be possessed?" Lex snapped, horror on his face. Kal hadn't shared that with him, preferring not to tell Lex because he'd insist on acting too soon.

"He's probably already possessed," Kara sighed. "Look, that's the only reason to steal Lionel. He's not your father anymore. He's got to be Zod."

Oliver frowned while tapping his laptop's cover. He looked at Lex with a worried expression. "Why two viruses?"

"Who cares?" Lex said, glaring at Oliver. "What matters is stopping them, both of them! We can figure out what the other virus does after we get it away from them."

Oliver nodded agreement. In less than two minutes they were out the door. Chloe stayed behind with Lex to work the computers to try and figure out the reasoning behind the two different viruses. Between J'onn, Kara and Kal they were able to carry everyone. Bart didn't need a ride. He was faster than they were.

Lionel's penthouse had a huge balcony with artistically arranged potted plants and comfortable lounging furniture that looked like it had never been used. When they arrived the balcony was empty but moments after they landed the Black Ship appeared overhead. Oliver shouted something and Kara made to launch at the ship but both Kal and J'onn caught her arm to stop her. Blindingly bright light lanced down out of the ship, depositing someone who looked like Lionel but who didn't have his posture at all.

"Zod!" Kara hissed. Her arm was shaking under Kal's hand.

"Kara Zor-El," Zod said with a smirk that closely resembled Lionel's smirk, only much colder. "Kal-El. I am glad to see that you both survived. Join me. This would will make an excellent base for us to rebuild Krypton."

"No way!" Kal said with the Historian's fierceness and Clark's tone of voice. "We won't let you do that to Earth!"

Zod stared at them like they were particularly disgusting bugs for a long moment that seemed to stretch to infinity as Kal sped up in anticipation of the inevitable attack. When Zod did move it wasn't against Kara or Kal. He grabbed two planters and flung them at Dinah and AC. Bart shouted and moved Dinah out of the way. AC ducked under the one flung at him though it grazed his back. Kal grabbed the planters to keep them from flying onwards into Oliver and Victor or over the edge of the balcony and down onto the street.

"Zod!" Kara shouted.

She darted at him at top speed but Zod was just as fast as she was. He was also taller and had a longer reach so he was able to knock her aside, straight towards Victor. Kal dropped the planters and caught Kara before she could crash into Victor. Victor tried firing his weapons on Zod but they bounced off without doing any harm. AC looked like he already realized that they were outclassed. His eyes were far too wide and Kal could hear his heart pounding in his chest.

"Get them out of here!" Kal shouted to Bart. "He's too strong!"

"We can help!" Dinah protested. She used her sonic scream on Zod but it had no effect beyond making him start and then stare at her. Windows shattered around them as Dinah increased the intensity of the scream. When Zod's eyes went red Kara knocked Dinah out of the way of Zod's heat vision before she could be incinerated.

"Go!" Kal shouted. "Guys! Get out of here!"

Oliver fired several arrows at once. Zod fried one and then let the others hit him in the chest. They bounced off without so much as scratching him. Before Oliver could fire another arrow, Zod caught one of his arrows and flung it back at him so hard that it would have gone straight through his body. Kal got between Oliver and the arrow, saving him.

"Stop attacking them!" Kara shouted at Zod. "We're your enemies!"

"They are vermin," Zod said with nothing but scorn in his voice. "You cannot seriously see them as worthy of living. They are barely worth keeping as slaves."

"Bart, get them out of here!" Kal yelled in a far more commanding tone of voice.

Bart hesitated for a few milliseconds that felt like an eternity. Zod used those milliseconds to charge at Kara, grabbing her by the throat. J'onn dove in and just barely managed to free her from his grip. Both of them went flying when Zod backhanded them. They left huge dents in the wall of Lionel's penthouse.

"On it!" Bart said.

He grabbed Dinah and disappeared in a whoosh of air. A moment later he was back, grabbing Oliver despite his protests. Kal relaxed a little as the less durable of the team were removed from the fight. AC didn't protest at all. Victor looked reluctant to leave but he used his jets to leave before Zod could attack him.

That left only Kal, Kara and J'onn to face Zod. Before Kal could say anything, Zod who deliberately fired his heat rays at the neighboring buildings. It was nighttime and the opposite apartment building was full of people so Kal didn't feel he had any choice. He intercepted the heat rays and took them square on the House of El sigil on his chest. The suit did what it was designed to do and adapted to the blast but it was hot enough that it hurt. Kara and J'onn attacked Zod in unison, as if they'd practiced the move for years.

Kal shouted something incoherent at them that was echoed by Kara and J'onn in their battle with Zod. The heat rays knocked Kal out of the sky, sending him down to the street below to create a crater about twice as wide as he was tall. Kal pulled himself out of it and stared up into the sky where Zod was battling with Kara and J'onn.

J'onn was knocked from the sky first, felled by a blow from Zod's loafer-clad heel. Kal flew up and caught him, wobbling as if he was barely able to manage it. J'onn groaned in Kal's arms, barely conscious. A moment later Kara fell from the sky like a falling meteorite. She created a crater in the middle of the street that was twice the size of Kal's. Zod had obviously hit her much harder. He could hear her heart beating but she didn't get up so Victor, AC and Bart scrambled into the hole to get her out.

"I have to fight him," Kal said urgently to Oliver. "Look, you guys can't fight him. He's too strong. It has to be me. Kara's down. J'onn can't take him. There's only me left."

Oliver looked like he'd just bitten into something bitter but he nodded once. "Go. We'll take care of Kara. Be careful!"

"I will be," Kal said. "I'll try and lure him away from town."

Kal turned from them and took off into the sky. Zod looked down at him with eyes that didn't blink. There was an overconfident smirk on his lips. As he flew up towards the battle, Kal spotted Brainiac standing on a rooftop a couple of blocks away. He resisted the urge to smirk.

It was perfect. Hopefully if this battle went as he wanted, he would give Brainiac exactly the wrong impression and allow the next part of his plans to go properly. Of course, he did still have to remove Zod from Lionel's body but that was going to have to wait until the next step of the plan had been put into action.

+++++

"R-Ramon!" Kal gasped as Ramon dove at him, nearly poking him in the chest with the tip of his sword.

"You must learn to fight properly, Kal," Ramon said sternly as Kal swayed a little but didn't raise his sword to counter Ramon's. "Truly, I do not understand why you find it so hard to fight back against me."

"I could hurt you," Kal protested softly.

Ramon sighed and shook his head. He lowered his sword to gaze at Kal with that too-serious intensity that always made Kal shiver at how much he resembled Lex. It wasn't the face or the hair as Ramon was dark complected and his face somewhat resembled a fox's. What reminded Kal of Lex was his brilliantly blue eyes. They were nearly exactly the same shade as Lex's. Kal wondered sometimes why he remembered Lex's eye color but never let himself answer the question.

"Kal," Ramon said gravely, "you must learn to fight properly. Certainly you are quite strong and if you lost control you could harm me, but that is not the purpose of this exercise. Your style of combat is distressingly direct. You see an opponent and charge straight at them. You yourself have told me that there are many things that could harm you. If you do not learn how to feint while you battle someone, you run the risk of those things being used against you."

"Ramon, I hate lying," Kal complained.

"This is not lying," Ramon huffed. "This is strategy, Kal. I have watched the way you approach life. For all that you have some plans on how to occupy your time until your return home, they are simple and rudimentary, just as is your style of combat. You must understand this, you cannot succeed if you do not learn proper strategy."

"I don't get it," Kal admitted.

Ramon chuckled and shook his head before raising his sword. Kal made a face and raised his sword to match Ramon. The way Ramon moved always confused Kal. He moved one way and then attacked in another. He faked stumbles and then used them as a way to get under Kal's guard.

"You can learn to do this," Ramon said after he'd 'killed' Kal for the eight time.

"No, I can't," Kal complained. "I just don't have the gifts to do that."

"It is not a gift, Kal," Ramon snapped while lunging at him. "It is a skill. It is something that I learned to do. You will learn this even if I have to spend the rest of my life beating it into your skull."

Kal backpedaled and tried to defend but Ramon went in a different direction than he expected. He ended up on his butt in the dirt, staring at the tip of Ramon's sword. Ramon's eyes were bright with amusement and frustration. When he gestured for Kal to take his weapon and stand again, Kal grumbled but he did it.

"I don't know how you do it," Kal said as he brushed the dust off.

"For every attack there are specific counter attacks," Ramon explained. "I consider my opponent and then choose the one that I think they will be least prepared for. The key is to pretend to use a different attack so that I can get close to my goal. It is nothing more than learning proper strategy, Kal. Again."

They fought for another hour and then took a break for lunch. The next day Ramon started Kal's training in sword fighting over again. He showed the most basic moves and then demonstrated the ways that they could be countered. Kal continued to try but he couldn't quite wrap his head around what Ramon was explaining. The degree of subtlety of what he was teaching Kal seemed beyond what he could grasp.

That week blended into a month and then into a year. A delegation from Krypton arrived and tried to take Kal back with them. Ramon found them amusing, especially when he realized that they had the same issues with subtlety that Kal did. He didn't go to Krypton. The lessons continued.

Two years into his study with Ramon Kal had learned all the moves and counter moves but he still didn't put them together in a way that pleased Ramon. He took to laying in wait for Kal and attacking him at odd moments. The surprise attacks made Kal panic, mostly in fear that he'd harm Ramon.

"Will you stop this?" Kal demanded.

"Never!" Ramon laughed while beating Kal back towards the wall of the storeroom they were in.

Kal growled and sidestepped Ramon's lunge. Their swords sang against each other for a moment and then Kal twisted the hilt just right to send Ramon's sword flying. A little bump of his shoulder sent Ramon tumbling to the floor.

"Yes!" Ramon shouted while grinning at Kal. "That's what I was talking about!"

"What?" Kal stared at him, confused enough to let his sword tip drop.

Ramon took the opening and tackled Kal, startling him enough that they tumbled backwards. Kal stopped their fall before the hit the stone floor, supporting Ramon so that neither of them would fall. The laughter on Ramon's lips made Kal smile through his confusion.

"You feinted," Ramon said proudly. "You moved your shoulders as if you were going to charge and then sidestepped instead. That's a feint. That's what I've been trying to get you to do."

"That's all?" Kal asked, surprised.

"That's all," Ramon said. He settled on Kal's chest, deliberately rubbing their groins together. "It applies to all of your plans and all of your battles but that's the core of what I want you to learn. Seem to do one thing while doing another, quite different, thing."

"Oh." Kal blinked at him and then let his sword fall to the floor. "So do I get a reward for finally having gotten it?"

"I think you've definitely earned one," Ramon said.

He pulled Kal closer and kissed him with all the considerable passion that had drawn Kal in and kept him by Ramon's side for the last few years. Kal groaned and willingly let Ramon draw him out of the storeroom to the bedroom that they shared. Ramon's servants chuckled as they passed, other than a couple who followed the new Christian cult who disapproved of such things. Kal was very careful never to talk to them about his religious beliefs. He couldn't risk changing history by telling them that they would someday be one of the most powerful and dominant religions on the planet.

"Thinking too hard," Ramon mumbled into their kiss as the toppled back on the bed together.

"Can't help it sometimes," Kal admitted and then gasped as Ramon shoved his tunic up and his underwear down. "Ramon."

"You do deserve a reward," Ramon laughed.

He palmed Kal's erection, licking a stripe from the base to the tip before sucking it into his mouth. Kal bit his lip to keep from whimpering at how good it felt. The blowjob was fast and urgent, the exact opposite of Ramon's normal careful, considered sex play. Kal couldn't have held back on his orgasm if he tried, which he didn't. Far too quickly it was over and Ramon was stripping their clothes off.

"Hey," Kal said as he spread his legs to let Ramon settle on top of him.

"Hmm?"

"Are you going to do this every time I successfully feint?" Kal asked.

Ramon laughed and smirked at him. "I most certainly will, at least until you do it reliably. I fully hope that it will inspire you though you may wear me out to the point that I can't fight anymore."

"Works for me," Kal laughed. "So what else do I need to learn?"

"There's so much more," Ramon chuckled as he stroked Kal back to hardness. "Learning to feint is only the start." He laughed at Kal's dismayed groan.

+++++

Kal crashed into Zod with everything he had, driving his startled opponent away from the penthouse and up into the sky. Their trajectory arched away from the Watchtower and from the heavily populated center of the city. Hopefully it would look like a lucky accident for Kal, though in reality it was quite deliberate.

"You cannot win against me, boy," Zod said with a sneer that was pure Lionel except that the avaricious look in his eyes wasn't there.

"I won't let you do this!" Kal shouted in his best overwrought Clark voice.

He wasn't surprised at all by the knee heading for his stomach. Kal took it and grunted while swinging a roundhouse punch at Zod's head. Zod easily blocked it but he didn't catch the other fist headed for his stomach. By that point they were past the edge of town and headed out into the cornfields.

Behind them, Kara mumbled something and then it sounded like she sat up with a pained gasp. Kal kept throwing punches at Zod, half of them connecting and half of them being blocked. Zod wasn't that bad of a fighter but he obviously didn't have any respect for Clark Kent's ability to fight. He didn't seem to realize that Kal was holding back. Of course, that was exactly what Kal wanted. He needed to establish Clark as a separate person from the Historian in Zod's mind. Between Zod and Brainiac, Kal needed to have that added edge. He couldn't afford for them to take him fully seriously yet.

Zod got a very hard punch through Kal's guard, knocking the two of them apart. Kal feigned being stunned and crashed into the fields below. Back in Metropolis he could hear Kara arguing with the League about following Clark and Zod and joining in the fight.

"You can still join me," Zod declared while hovering over Kal's crater. "Renounce these humans and choose your own race, Kal-El. They are less that the dust beneath your feet."

"Never," Kal growled.

Lex's heartbeat suddenly tripled.

Kal froze and turned to stare back towards Metropolis. Zod took that moment's distraction to attack. He grabbed Kal and flung him into the sky, hitting him simultaneously with heat vision and a vicious punch that should have broken most of Clark's ribs. Kal rocked with it, intensely grateful for the centuries of solar energy armoring his body. When Zod smashed his fist into Kal's jaw, he feigned being knocked unconscious and stilled his breathing and heartbeat with the meditative disciplines he'd learned so long ago.

"You were a fool, Kal-El," Zod said. "I will have your world and your mate shall become another incarnation of me."

He flew back to Metropolis at super speed. Kal waiting a few milliseconds and then went as fast as he could to the penthouse. The other costume that he'd prepared in secret was as tight as his Superman costume but in black and silver. Lex's heartbeat was holding steady but Kal could hear Chloe alternately pleading and threatening someone who had to be Brainiac. There was no heartbeat or respiration associated with the footsteps implacably moving closer to Lex.

"Time for the next phase of the plan," Kal murmured as he pulled on his Historian posture. "Let's see if they can deal with me."

He made sure that the crystals that he'd designed were secured in his belt and then flew straight towards the watchtower. Zod was almost there and Bart was speeding towards the tower even faster than Zod and Kal. It would be interesting to see how this played out, especially since Kal was fairly certain that this could go very wrong very quickly.

"Stay away from us!" Chloe shouted as Zod smashed through one window and Kal smashed through another. Bart showed up two milliseconds later, staring at the scene. He ended up standing right next to Kal.

"Take this to Lex!" Kal snapped at Bart, pressing one of the crystals into his hand. "He'll know what to do with it!"

"You…" Bart stared at Kal with his mouth dropped open.

"Do it!" Kal snapped at him.

Chloe started firing at Brainiac who hadn't paused when they arrived. The bullets bounced off of Brainiac's body, doing no damage at all except to the walls that they impacted with. Kal tackled Brainiac and drove him out of the opposite window, leaving Bart, Lex and Chloe to deal with Zod.

+++++

Kal toppled backwards onto the bed, allowing Sean to pin him down. Even after all these years together, he shivered at the press of Sean's thumbs at the pressure points on his wrists. With his strength it would be easy to break free but he wouldn't do that. The point wasn't that he was strong enough to escape; it was that he submitted to Sean willingly. After twenty years together Sean simply wasn't strong enough to win their increasingly rare wrestling battles unless Kal allowed it. Kal always allowed it since Sean broke his hip a year ago.

"I miss truly grappling with you," Seam murmured while nuzzling Kal's neck. "The flex of your body against mine, knowing that all that strength was reined in just for me. It was very powerful, very satisfying. Not that I object to full submission, of course, but there was so much to enjoy in making you submit to my will."

"Sean…" Kal moaned. His whole body trembled with the strength of his purr.

Sean chuckled and left a line of kisses down the side of Kal's neck. His firm grip on Kal kept him still. Despite his thousand or so years of age, Kal had never had a lover who was so concerned with controlling him physically. At first he had fought it, uncomfortable with the idea of anyone controlling him in any way but fairly quickly he saw how much it meant to Sean. That first time submitting had opened Kal's eyes to a whole new dimension to sex that explained many things about his past/future interactions with Lex.

"You so enjoy this," Sean laughed.

"I do," Kal agreed while staying as still as possible. "Didn't think I would but I do."

"Mmm."

Sean patted Kal's hands, indicating that he was to keep them exactly where they were and then he moved his way down Kal's body. It was nice not to have to do anything other than follow Sean's orders and take what he offered. Sean was an expert in finding all of the hot spots that set Kal's libido on fire. Even though his hair was nearly gone and his face was lined with wrinkles, Sean was still one of the best lovers Kal had ever had. All that mattered to Kal was that it was Sean, his bright, fierce Sean.

"Thinking too hard again," Sean mumbled as he stroked Kal's cock and then swallowed him whole.

"Sean," Kal gasped.

Sean smiled around Kal's cock and reached for the oil. Their sexual encounters had reduced in frequency over time but the intensity of each encounter remained just as powerful as that first time. As Sean lubed Kal, he moved Kal's limbs exactly as he wanted them. By now all it took was a touch and look and Kal knew exactly what Sean wanted. He couldn't imagine how he was going to live without Sean, even as he knew that he would, that he would survive and go on and eventually get back to Lex, the one person who truly held Kal's heart in his hands.

Kal kept as still as possible as Sean had his way with him. It didn't take much anymore for him to be able to let go of the thoughts and plans that always filled his head. In the beginning it had taken forever. Now all the worries and many-layered lists of things to do simply faded away and Kal was able to focus totally on what Sean wanted, what he was doing to Kal's body.

It was intense. It was comforting. It made him feel like he was flying when his body was firmly held down on the bed.

After Sean had brought Kal to orgasm several times he finally allowed himself to come as well. Kal shouted at feeling Sean's release inside of him. They collapsed together on the bed, Sean finally giving Kal the little pat pat pat that meant he could move freely again. He smiled and wrapped his arms around his aging lover.

"Just can't do that as well as I used to," Sean complained. He panted and then coughed.

"Nonsense," Kal said, kissing Sean's balding head. "You're much better than you used to be. You used to be impatient."

Sean chuckled. They curled up together and eventually Sean fell asleep. Kal watched him sleep as the light faded. The fading light made Sean's wrinkles look much deeper. It intensified the liver spots that had bloomed on his face and hands a few years ago. He looked like an old man, a very old man, when he slept. He breathed like it too, all rattling breaths and little gasping sounds as his body struggled to keep going despite his failing breath.

Twenty years.

It seemed like such a short time to Kal. After a thousand years waiting for his return to his life as Clark Kent, twenty years was nothing and yet looking at Sean he could feel every instant of every day. Time passed so quickly when your lifespan was limited. Every moment was precious.

Every moment that Kal got to share with Sean was like gold. It was more precious than gold, than jewels, than anything that people valued. Time was the most precious commodity that could ever exist. Kal had too much of it and he could never share it with those he loved.

"Go to sleep, Kal," Sean mumbled. He batted one wrinkled but still strong hand against Kal's shoulder. "I'm not dead yet. Stop mourning me."

"Sorry," Kal laughed in spite of himself.

"Sleep."

Kal did.

+++++

Impacting Brainiac's body was not like impacting any other body. Where hitting a human or Kryptonian body would have given him the impression of muscles and bones rearranging from the force of the impact, possibly splintering, Brainiac's body flowed under Kal's tackle. He shifted, moved, rumbled inside as though his surface hid a multitude of crystals suspended in oily liquid, which of course it did.

The window splintered and sprayed glass down towards the street. Kal didn't bother trying to melt it. Brainiac required all of his attention. The milliseconds ticked onwards as they left the building and headed up towards the stratosphere. Kal had no intention of allowing Brainiac to touch the ground again. He probably had several remote versions of himself scattered around the globe but if Kal could get high enough when he triggered the second crystal tucked into his belt it wouldn't matter. They would all fall at once.

"Historian!" Brainiac snarled. "You won't succeed! I'm prepared for you!"

"Mmm, we'll see," Kal said, flying ever higher.

The attack when it came was completely expected. Brainiac shifted and tried to drive spikes through Kal's body. Kal smiled and didn't release his grip on the shifting mass of computer crystals. His body was much tougher than a normal Kryptonians by several orders of magnitude, so unless Zod had altered Brainiac to be more powerful before he left Krypton he lacked sufficient PSI to get through Kal's skin.

Brainiac shouted when his spikes had no effect. It was an electronic squeal that made Kal want to wince. He could hear Kara shout in pain from her place under the Watchtower. The others had to take over dealing with the falling glass as Kara collapsed to her knees. Kal winced but didn't let the squeal stop him.

The next attack involved Brainiac trying to envelop Kal to smother him. Kal flew faster, soaring up past the edge of the breathable atmosphere and into the semi-darkness at the edge of the earth's envelope of air. It didn't matter when Brainiac enveloped Kal's face, though Kal did pause his flight. He'd already reached the height that he wanted.

"You cannot win against me," Brainiac hissed into Kal's ears as he tried to smother Kal.

Kal shoved against Brainiac's grip on his arms and just managed to pull the second crystal from his belt. The instant it came out Brainiac screamed again. This time the scream was accompanied by a violent shudder that reduced Brainiac to nothing but a puddle of black goo. Kal held the crystal away from his body and Brainiac's goo followed it, soaking into it.

'I rather think it was the other way around,' Kal thought with grim satisfaction. He made sure that all of Brainiac's goo had been soaked up by the crystal and then zoomed back down into the atmosphere.

The electronic scream continued once he was able to hear it. Kal could make out five distinct locations where separate versions of Brainiac were screaming in agony. The first was in Metropolis, at Lionel's penthouse. Kal flew there and smiled to find another puddle of goo quivering in agony and screaming its error message to the universe. Lionel's secretary ran for the stairs when Kal set down next to Brainiac. Kal let him go, far more concerned with containing Brainiac than worrying about what the press might say tomorrow.

The second Brainiac was in New York, huddled in a corner of Virgil's burnt out mansion. The remnants of Virgil's mainframe sat around it, cobbled back into something that might possibly have worked if only Brainiac had had more time to work. Kal sucked that one up too. His crystal had shifted from clear to a dingy gray.

The third was in Paris, near to where Lana was studying. Kal found that rather odd but he didn't worry about it. Lana appeared to have no idea anything had happened and Kal didn't bother approaching her. The fourth was in the kitchen of the Marcellus mansion, where Raul loomed over it with a Roman short sword and Gabriel with a frying pan.

"It should be okay now," Kal said as he whooshed in. "Let me get that."

"It said that we had to die," Gabriel said. His voice and knees were shaking so hard that Raul put down the sword and pulled Gabriel into his arms.

"I'm not surprised," Kal sighed. "Brainiac does seem to be a bit melodramatic. I'll fill you in on the details later. I still have to collect the ship."

"Good luck, Sir," Raul said. He was doing his best imperturbable routine though it was slightly flawed by the way his knuckles went white around Gabriel's back.

"Thank you," Kal said before whooshing out and heading for the final squeal.

This one was right outside of the Fortress' security field. It was also much bigger than the others, the size of a box of paper or a small suitcase. Kal smiled. He had expected that the main component of Brainiac would go after the Fortress. It was only natural that it would want to infiltrate the strongest computer system on the planet. Fortunately for Kal, and for Jor-El's download, Dax-Ur had long since filled Kal in on how to block that from happening.

"Nice to see that my plans were effective," Kal murmured as he set the now charcoal gray crystal on top of the pulsating mass of liquid computer known as Brainiac.

The squeal stopped instantly and the puddle stilled. It slowly formed into a crystal about the size of Kal's chest. In this form, Brainiac resembled the Black Ship that it had been before, though much more compact now that it didn't have spaces to hold occupants. Kal nodded approval and picked up Brainiac.

"Time for you to go back to your prison," Kal murmured.

He couldn't destroy Brainiac yet. The coding inside of it was too robust for Kal to successfully introduce a virus. The way that it was put together physically was too robust as well. Even if he had destroyed the black box that was Brainiac's central core, the base nanites that formed its 'molecular' structure would have regenerated over time and returned it to at the very least partial function.

Kal couldn't risk that happening. Brainiac had been quite circumspect in its attacks so far. It hadn't tried to take over anyone's bodies directly. No one had been mind probed that Kal was aware of, though he did intend to verify that once things settled down again. He hadn't even tried to crash the world computer systems, which would have been quite simple for Brainiac to do.

This time when Kal left the atmosphere he flew straight out into space. The latest set of satellites that Pioneer Astrophysics had launched was peacefully maintaining their designated positions in space. Kal carefully matched Brainiac's trajectory with the trajectory of the satellites and then let him go. Brainiac stayed dull and inert, floating inside of the set of satellites. If he ever did wake up, which was possible, Kal would know and the next of his set of plans would unfold.

On the rapid flight back to Earth, Kal smiled. Now he just had to change back to his Superman suit and then go help Lex, Bart and probably Kara free Lionel from Zod. Of course, given that it had taken several minutes to travel from Earth to the satellites, Lex might have taken care of the problem for Kal already.

Lex was almost certainly capable of dealing with Lionel, no matter who was wearing his body.

Probably.

Kal thought back to certain episodes of Lex's life before Kal had met him and frowned. He flew faster, trying to compress the thousands of miles of space into less time. Better to save Lex than allow Zod to take over where Lionel had left off years ago.

+++++

Kal studied the papers in front of him with what likely appeared to be careful scrutiny while his mind ranged far and wide. After several generations of managing the Marcellus family's wealth, it was at best boring to attend these meetings but David Marcellus had not been a part of these discussion before so he needed to seem to pay attention.

Though after four hours of meetings Kal thought that he might be able to get away with leaving soon. Hopefully. As the chairman droned on, Kal did his best not to yawn while staring at the tables and charts on the latest set of reports.

Lex's heartbeat picked up.

Kal stilled, fidgeted to hide the reaction and then stilled again as he heard Lionel's footsteps tromping towards Lex's room in the mansion in Metropolis. The others in the room didn't appear to notice Kal's distraction, which was a minor blessing, but Kal knew it couldn't last.

The door to Lex's room slammed open, the drywall cracking under the force of Lionel's shove.

Lex's stammered apologies and explanations drowned out the chairman's voice. Kal did his best not to pay attention but he couldn't make his hearing stop focusing on Lex. It was so hard not to leave the room immediately and fly there to save Lex from his father's shouting and belittling comments. Before he'd been sent back in time Lex had commented that his father hadn't been the best parent in the world but Kal didn't remember Lex admitting that he'd been beaten on a regular basis after he lost his hair.

Not that Lex had been particularly well treated before he'd lost his hair. Lionel's behavior before the meteor shower had put Kal's teeth on edge entirely too many times but it had only rarely become physical. Lately, the 'discipline' had become truly abusive.

"Sir?"

"Oh, sorry," Kal said. He didn't have to fake the tremor in his hands, not with his ears full of Lex's whimpers and the sound of Lionel's fists smacking into his body. "I, I think, I think it would be best to take a break."

"Of course, sir," the chairman said. He ignored the others grateful sighs of relief in favor of sending a worried and paternal look at Kal. "We're more or less done for the day. If you wish to leave you're free to do so."

"Thank you," Kal said gratefully.

He scrambled the papers together and shoved them into his brand new briefcase. The others were too polite to watch the way his hands shook as he took his leave but he could hear them comment on how hard it must be to endure such 'troubles' once he'd left the room. Once again he was grateful for everyone's assumption that David Marcellus was prone to panic attacks and various mental disorders. It made a lovely screen for the fact that he wanted to go and rip Lionel's head off.

The drive back to the villa took what felt like seventeen hours too long. Traffic at lunchtime was always horrible in Rome and had been since he'd first arrived there 2,500 years ago. Today it felt like the traffic was even worse than normal. Raul looked up when Kal hurried in, a frown on his face. Kal just shook his head no and went onwards to his bedroom.

The beating was over. Lionel stomped off into a different part of the house to terrorize someone else with his bad mood. Lex's whimpers of pain switched over to nearly silent sobbing. Kal's heart hurt. No child should ever learn that crying was a trigger for being hurt, that if you had to cry it should be so quiet that no one would hear you or notice.

"I hate this," Kal whispered as he stared at the mural over his bed. It needed to be taken down and redone. "How many times am I going to have to listen to this?"

He didn't know.

Lex had never admitted to the abuse that had haunted his childhood so Kal had no idea how often he'd been beaten. The browbeating and other forms of mental abuse were something that Kal expected and knew about but the physical abuse was something that he had been unprepared for. Throughout the centuries Kal had seen child abuse far too many times to count. When he could, he'd intervened. The times that he couldn't save the child had always been horribly painful.

For Lex to be one of the children he couldn't save made Kal curl up in a ball on his bed.

"Kal?"

"I can't save him," Kal said in as close to a normal tone of voice as he could manage. "He's being hurt, beaten, and I can't save him."

"No, you can't," Raul agreed. He came and sat on the edge of Kal's bed to run his fingers through Kal's hair. "If you act now, you lose the future you've waited for."

"It hurts."

"I know."

Raul held Kal as he cried the tears that Lex couldn't. They'd had the same conversation many times before. Kal knew what he could and could not do. Saving Lex wasn't one of the things that he could do, not now. Once he returned to his proper time and place then he'd be able to protect Lex from Lionel's abuse but not until then.

Never until then. No matter how many times Lex was beaten and hurt, Kal couldn't save him.

"He won't be the same person if you do something now," Raul whispered shortly after Lex fell asleep and Kal relaxed in his arms.

"I know," Kal sighed. The words came out shuddery and full of pain. "This is part of what makes him into the man I've waited so long for but… it hurts! I want to save him so badly and I can't."

Raul didn't say anything. He just held Kal until sleep crept up and captured Kal too.

+++++

Lex's mouth gaped open as the windows blew in and two strange people landed in the Watchtower. One was so familiar and yet so strange that Lex shuddered. He didn't know when Kal had created the black and silver suit but it made him look older, much more mature and somehow far more dangerous than the crayon-colored Superman suit did. Which was probably deliberate, knowing Kal.

"Take this to Lex!" Kal snapped to Bart, pressing a strange crystal into his hand. "He'll know what to do with it!"

"You…" Bart stared at Kal with his mouth dropped open. He looked at Kal as if he was afraid of him, as if he didn't recognize Kal at all.

"Do it!" Kal snapped at him.

Bart flinched at the same time that Chloe started firing at Brainiac. The bullets bounced off of Brainiac's body, doing no damage at all. The ricochets gouged holes in the walls but that was all they did. Without any further words, Kal tackled Brainiac and drove him out of the opposite window, leaving Bart, Lex and Chloe to deal with Lionel and the person now controlling his body.

"You will give that to me," Lionel said, pointing at Bart.

"Bart!" Lex shouted.

Before Lex could register the movement, Lionel was gone from his place by the window and Bart had disappeared from his place by the opposite broken window. Lex felt like he was in the middle of a hurricane as wind whirled around the edges of the room. Chloe shouted something incoherent, her eyes so wide that she looked terrified. Lex suspected that she was actually furious about the whole situation. Chloe had always seemed the type to get angry first and then remember to be afraid later.

Something brushed against Lex's side. His jacket shifted slightly as if a weight had been added to his pocket. Before he could reach in to verify that Bart had delivered the crystal to Lex, the wind stopped as Lionel and Bart returned to human speeds. It looked like it was anything but willingly for Bart as his legs wind milled under him.

"Stupid human," Lionel snarled as he hoisted Bart off of his feet and held him suspended several feet off of the ground. He was floating in space just as Kara tended to when she was thinking or pouting. "You will give the crystal to me now!"

"Too late," Lex shouted over Chloe's shout of "Let him go!"

Lex slid his hand into his pocket. He didn't allow himself to sigh in relief that the crystal was there. Lionel's eyes narrowed in a threatening expression that strangely wasn't half as terrifying as one of Lionel's scowls. Where Lex would have been working to control his fearful reaction with Lionel, Lex found that he could face this imposter wearing his father's body with relative confidence. Bart gasped something that looked like a warning at Lex and Chloe and then squawked as Lionel dropped him on his ass.

"Who are you?" Lex asked curiously.

"I am Zod, your ruler," Lionel, no Zod, said. "You will bow before me as your king or I shall destroy you."

"Hmph, I hardly think so," Lex said. He studied the crystal and smiled over the top of it at Zod. "You're a ghost wearing the body of my father, nothing more."

"Ah, you are Lex Luthor," Zod said. The way he narrowed his eyes while smirking did begin to make Lex nervous. "Then your fate shall be very different, human. You shall be another vessel for me. With two Zods I shall be invincible and not even the Historian shall be able to stop me."

"Who?" Chloe demanded. "That guy in the black suit?"

Bart zipped over to their sides, a hand wrapped around his throat. Lex could see bruises blooming above Bart's hand. Zod must have come very close to strangling Bart before Lex had distracted him. Lex nodded at Chloe's question, leveling a smirk of his own at Zod. He couldn't hide the way his heart had picked up at the thought of being transformed into another Zod but that didn't mean he was going to give in. He'd never hurt Kal that way.

"He's Clark's ancestor," Lex said. Chloe and Bart both stared at him. "He's over 2,500 years old and the most powerful Kryptonian ever to exist. Zod here is a joke by comparison. He's not even a real Kryptonian. He's just a fake with cobbled together powers that will inevitably fade in time. That's why you need me, isn't it? My healing will ensure that the powers stay. Lionel's body will burn out in a matter of days at most."

Zod glared at Lex and suddenly he was in front of Lex, reaching out with a syringe in his hand. Bart shouted and grabbed at Zod's arm, trying to stop him, to wrench the syringe away. It glowed green, Lex noted in the back of his mind as he shoved Chloe away and raised the crystal in what felt like extreme slow motion.

So he'd become a kryptonite version of Zod, poisonous in his very flesh to Kal? He couldn't see how that would work given kryptonite's effect on Kryptonians, not that it mattered that much. Bart went flying as Zod shoved him out of the way. Lex took the moment of distraction and shoved the crystal against Zod's chest.

Lightning flashed from the crystal, engulfing Lex and Zod. Lionel's expression appeared on his face for a moment. It was wiped away a moment later as Lionel's face went totally blank and his eyes turned milky white. Lex tried to pull away but the crystal in his fist kept him there with the syringe of glowing green death hovering far too close to his neck.

"Accessing Oracle," Lionel said in Jor-El's voice.

"Get out!" Zod shouted. He seemed terrified and furious and nervous all at once.

"Son!" Lionel gasped, his eyes clearing for a moment.

He stared into Lex's eyes with an expression that was so odd to Lex that he almost couldn't identify it. As Lionel's face slid back to expressionless blankness and his eyes flickered between Zod's red and Jor-El's white, Lex realized where he'd seen that look in his father's eyes.

Once, when he was very young, he'd seen a single picture of Lionel with his parents. Lionel had been approximately six years old, skinny and wide eyed. Behind him stood Lex's grandparents, his grandmother staring at the camera with a grim look and hands folded in front of her. His grandfather had had one hand on Lionel's shoulder, the fingers curled in a gesture that was likely supposed to look comforting. Lex knew that Lionel's shoulder must have ached under the grip of those long-gone fingers. He'd experienced much the same grip far too many times as a young man.

Lionel's expression had been one of barely concealed terror.

He wore the same look now, at least until Zod and Jor-El resumed their battle for control over his body. Lex tried again to pull away but his hand was trapped against Lionel's chest and the syringe was approaching his neck at glacial speed. Chloe and Bart appeared at Lex's side. Bart tried to pull Lex away as Chloe caught Lionel's arm and hauled at it with her full body weight.

"Get away!" Lex shouted at them.

"Let me."

Chloe and Bart gasped, whirling to stare at Kal in his black and silver suit. Lex felt himself relax involuntarily. Kal was here. They couldn't fail now, as long as Kal could get his damned hand free from Lionel's chest.

+++++

"It's really that much of a problem?" Kal asked.

Dax-Ur nodded, fidgeting with the scone he was tearing into tiny chunks and then methodically buttering. He seemed to need to do something prosaic as they talked about Brainiac. Kal could understand it. The computer was Dax-ur's greatest accomplishment and at the same time his greatest failure. That he now knew for certain that it would destroy Krypton had apparently paradoxically given him some peace of mind.

"It is," Dax said once he'd eaten the first tiny bite of scone. "It learns. Right now its not much of a threat as it is rather child-like but in twenty years it will have learned enough that it will have a full personality coupled with an ability to think faster than any organic being. If anyone gets at its programming and… tweaks it to have particular political beliefs then it will be very nearly uncontrollable."

"You say it learns," Kal said slowly. "Can memories be wiped out? Can its directives be adjusted? And can it be destroyed?"

"… Maybe," Dax said even more slowly than Kal. "I think that it would be possible with the proper situations to remove memories but adjusting its directives will be almost impossible once it has developed a full personality."

Kal cocked his head at Dax, setting the teacup he'd been fidgeting with on his knee so that he could properly stare at Dax. Dax winced and swallowed so hard on the next bite of scone that it was audible throughout the room. He coughed a little, his hands shaking from sheer nervousness.

"You think his programming has already been adjusted," Kal said. It wasn't a question.

Dax nodded shakily. He had to take a sip of tea before he could continue. "Yes. I'm fairly certain of it. I informed the Maintenance Authority of the problem but they ignored me. I was a well known for opposing General Zod's ambitions and they're strong supporters of him."

"That makes sense," Kal murmured.

He'd always wondered about Brainiac's fanatical support of Zod. It made no sense for a computer to have that strong of an allegiance to one person or another. If it were something that had been inserted into his base coding before he'd developed intelligence then it would become a bedrock part of his personality.

"All right," Kal said. "Tell me about Zod. All that I know of him is second hand. Anything you can tell me will help me develop effective plans to stop Brainiac."

Dax nodded more firmly this time. He ate several small bites of scone while marshalling his thoughts. Kal didn't interrupt. It was quite obvious that Dax simply didn't deal well with stressful situations and that he needed the little bits of normality he'd created for himself to be able to cope with it.

"Zod… he's a complicated person," Dax said. "He has been a military man for more or less his entire life. His family has been military for generations and Zod was noted even as a young boy as being exceptionally gifted as a warrior. I um, studied him and his life once he became somewhat powerful in the military."

"Good," Kal said, nodding for Dax to continue.

"Well, at one point he was very close friends with Jor-El, the head of the scientific branch of the El family," Dax said. He smiled at the surprised start that Kal gave. "When they were both younger, they worked together and became friends. I think that Jor-El was there for Zod's hand fasting. However, Zod's first wife and son died in the destruction of Kandor and Jor-El refused to help Zod clone his son. There truly wasn't much that Jor-El could have done. He was already in a huge amount of trouble at the time and unauthorized cloning of that nature would have gotten him thrown into the Phantom Zone. It simply isn't allowed, you know."

Kal nodded, though he hadn't known any of this. It certainly wasn't anything the download of his father had ever shared with him. Dax ate another few bites of scone, appearing to warm up to his story. After taking a sizable swallow of tea, Dax set the scone and tea aside so that he could lean forward and stare out the window.

"I can understand both sides," Dax admitted. "Zod apparently doted on his son and Jor-El couldn't do anything without risking far more than it was worth. Anyway, that destroyed their friendship. Jor-El has since gone on to become a great scientist, though one with some rather radical ideas. Zod… Zod has become quite literally become the greatest general Krypton has known in over 10,000 years. He's done quite a lot to secure Krypton, but he's also become a threat to Krypton, at least in my opinion."

"Why?"

"Because he thinks that it's his destiny to take over Krypton and then the rest of the universe," Dax explained. He shivered as if something icy had just run up his spine. "I'd call him a madman but he's truly not. I've seen him and spoken to him on a couple of occasions. He's driven and far too talented at war for everyone's good, but he's not mad."

"He truly believes that all races should be subservient to Kryptonians, doesn't he?" Kal sighed.

"Most Kryptonians believe that," Dax retorted though he nodded sadly enough to take the sting out of his words. "They haven't been off-word. Very few Kryptonians travel, you see. It's quite rare for a Kryptonian to leave our solar system and has been since the Eugenics Wars. Zod wants to change that. He wants our race to leave our home system and go to systems like this one, the ones with yellow suns. When he gives his speeches it sounds so reasonable, like the most logical thing in the world, but it's quite insane when you look at it logically."

"Sounds like Hitler," Kal murmured while looking out of the window.

"Who?" Dax asked.

"He's the Chancellor of Germany," Kal explained. "He believes that the Germans are the 'Master Race' and that it's their destiny to rule the world. He also believes that all so-called lesser races need to be eradicated or controlled. There's… well, there will be a world war very soon to stop him and several other megalomaniac rulers currently in power in Europe."

"Oh," Dax said, blinking at Kal in surprise. "Oh my. So I fled one war to land in the middle of another war?"

"Very much so," Kal laughed ruefully.

He reached over to pat Dax's violently shaking hand. The man so obviously couldn't handle this sort of thing. Dax started and then went so still that he looked like he'd frozen solid. Kal took Dax's hand, the one that wore the blue kryptonite ring. He held it up so that Dax had to look at it. Doubt and fear rampaged across Dax's face but he didn't say anything.

"While you wear this you are normal, Dax," Kal said as gently as he could given the warning he had to deliver. "But you're also very vulnerable. The state of medicine on this world is terrible. People die all the time from infections caused by simple cuts and punctures. They have very little concept of proper hygiene or sanitation and when the war comes it will quite literally involve every single major power. America is one of the major powers, or it will be very soon."

"I should take it off?" Dax asked hesitantly.

"You should think very seriously about it once the war starts," Kal said. He released Dax's hand and settled back into his chair. "I won't tell you that you should or that you shouldn't. It's entirely your choice. I would never wear such a ring but I know what I have to do. I cannot afford to be weak. Your role in the future events will likely be very minor and supporting at best so it's up to you. You should be very wary of the lack of proper medical care, though."

Kal shrugged and drank the last of his tea. He'd spent a great deal more time with Dax than he'd intended at first but in Kal's opinion it was well worth it. Dax knew things that Kal needed to know if he was going to be able to save Lex and the world once he was returned to his own time. Dax stared at him as Kal stood, rubbing his hand and running his fingers over the blue kryptonite ring as if he was trying to coax answers out of it.

"I should be going," Kal said. "I'd like to come back to talk to you again, if that's all right?"

"Oh!" Dax bolted to his feet and nodded. Crumbs rained from his lap to the floor unnoticed. "Um, of course, yes, that would be fine."

"Also," Kal said with a wry smile that made Dax quiver for a moment, "I would like to offer you a job. I have several companies that I run, one of which is working towards space travel in a hundred or so years. Not that they're aware of it, of course, but that is the goal of all of their research. I'd very much like to hire you to help them out. You'll have to restrain yourself to the current levels of technology and scientific awareness but I think you can help them progress much faster than they have been."

Dax's jaw dropped open as he tried to find words. After making several garbled, incoherent noises Dax snapped his mouth shut, swallowed hard and nodded equally hard. Kal tried very hard not to smile at him. It was so odd being treated this respectfully by a Kryptonian but then Dax didn't appear to be a normal Kryptonian.

"Yes, of course," Dax said. "I, I would be honored. That… that would actually be quite helpful. I wasn't sure what I would do once my money ran out."

"Good," Kal said with a broad smile that seemed to calm Dax instead of making him nervous. "I'll come back in a day or two, once I've made the arrangements, and we can talk again. Thank you for your help."

"Ah, thank you, sir," Dax said.

Dax showed him out of the tiny apartment. Kal walked down the street, tipping his hat appropriately when he passed a mother and her three small children. That hadn't been what he'd expected when he'd gone to visit Dax-Ur but it looked like it would be much more helpful than what he'd expected. Of course, his plans for the future would have to be adjusted but that shouldn't be too much of a struggle. At least they'd be much better than before.

+++++

"Who are you?" Chloe demanded as the stranger in the black suit strode over to set his hand over Lex's.

He wrapped himself around Lex, putting his other hand on Lionel's. The slow progress of the syringe in Lionel's hand stopped instantly, prompting Lex to breathe a sigh of relief. He sagged back against the stranger for a moment.

"Call me the Historian," the stranger said. "You can't let go, can you?"

"No," Lex grunted as he tried to wrench his hand free. "I'm stuck."

"Damn," the Historian muttered. "All right, this will be a good bit more complicated than I wanted but we'll make it work. Hopefully I won't have to break your fingers to get you free."

Chloe gasped at the thought of Lex's hand being broken but Lex only nodded as if he was perfectly fine with it. Bart zipped to her side and tugged her away. His eyes were so wide that he looked terrified, which she could absolutely understand given the huge bruises blooming on his throat. She allowed him to draw her back until they were clear of Lex, Lionel and the Historian.

"Who is he?" Bart muttered as Lionel's face cycled through three different, contradictory expressions and the lightning surrounding his body increased in ferocity.

"I have no idea," Chloe admitted. "I've never heard of him before."

"He looks so much like Clark," Bart said.

She didn't get a chance to deny it, not that she could deny it honestly, as Lex suddenly shouted. The Historian had done something that shattered the syringe, spraying green fluid over Lex's arm. Lex looked at Bart with a desperately worried expression that prompted Chloe to run for the kitchen for a towel. Bart zipped past her and came back with towels, scissors and a plastic baggie. By the time Chloe reached their sides Bart had already bagged up the remnants of the syringe and wiped Lex's arm down.

"Get the sleeve off and away from us!" Lex snapped.

"I'm fine," the Historian said. He obviously wasn't. He was sweating and Lionel's arm was moving towards Lex's throat again. "Weakened but fine."

"You can't afford to be weakened," Lex snarled. He added his human strength to the Historians, shoving as hard as he could against Lionel's arm while trying yet again to wrench his hand free.

"Quit squirming!" Chloe snapped at him as she used the scissors to cut his sleeve open. She got the outer layer off and into another plastic baggie provided by Bart, working as quickly as she could to get the shirt underneath it as well. "Get these out of here!"

"Gone," Bart said and then he was gone in a whoosh of air that made Chloe's hair fall into her eyes.

Lex's hand shoved her so hard that Chloe stumbled and fell to the ground a few feet away. She wanted to yell at him but lightning blasted the spot where she'd been standing just as she lifted her head so instead Chloe contented herself with crawling as fast as she could behind an overturned couch. It wasn't much cover but it was better than nothing.

"Historian?"

Chloe turned to the window, seeing Kara there with J'onn behind her. They were both staring at the Historian, J'onn with somewhat hidden fear and Kara with so much awe that she nearly looked like she was worshipping him. The Historian muttered something to Lex that Chloe couldn't hear. Lex nodded and bit his lip.

"Aaaagh!"

Lex's scream echoed over the crackle of the lightning and Lionel's scream. The Historian pushed Lex away from him and towards Kara who zipped over and caught Lex in her arms when he nearly collapsed. His hand was swelling already, the fingers obviously broken and dislocated, but Lex didn't seem to notice that other than holding his arm as though he was afraid to move it. He stared at the Historian who was still struggling with Lionel and the crystal.

"You cannot do this!" Lionel shouted in Zod's voice.

"Son! Help me!" Lionel screamed in a voice that sounded much like his normal self, if terrified out of his wits.

"Purging process nearly complete," Lionel said in a totally dispassionate tone of voice that would have done the Hal 9000 proud.

"Come on," the Historian said, "come on!"

"I am Zod!" Lionel shouted in an angry, panicked tone of voice. "I am the greatest general Krypton has ever known! I am your ruler! You will kneel before me!"

"You're a dead man's ghost," the Historian snarled, "and you will not destroy this world the way you did Krypton!"

Lightning erupted from the two of them, making Chloe shriek and hide behind the sofa. She heard Lex shout something but she couldn't make out what the words were over Kara's terrified cry, J'onn's shout and the wail that erupted from Lionel's throat. It was like nothing that Chloe had ever heard and she hoped she never heard anything like it again in her life. She could hear two people in that wail, as though there were two people screaming in pain and fear, but it was all Lionel's voice.

The silence that followed was so shocking that Chloe didn't dare to move for over six or seven seconds. Those seconds felt like an eternity. Her sofa was scorched and there was a small fire guttering out on one corner of it. The floor and ceiling of the Watchtower were marked with burn scars. Glass glittered across the floor.

"Where?" Chloe asked. She looked around, wild-eyed. "Where did they go?"

"They left," Kara said from her spot by the west window. "The Historian did it, I think. He purged Lionel of Zod's possession and then took him away."

"It will be all right now," J'onn announced in his characteristic grave fashion. "We should tell the others and get your hand seen to, Mr. Luthor."

"No, we need to find out what happened to Clark," Lex declared as he straightened up out of Kara's arms. "He fought Zod, right? We need to find him. He could be hurt. I'll be fine. You two need to go locate Clark!"

Kara nodded and let Lex go. Chloe hurried to his side, supporting him as Lex swayed. J'onn frowned at Lex, clearly worried, but he nodded as well. They left through the west window just as Oliver, AC and Victor ran in.

"What happened?" Oliver demanded.

"My father was taken over by Zod," Lex began. He was shaking under Chloe's hands but it didn't show in his voice or his expression.

"We knew that," Oliver snapped.

"Well, apparently Clark lost the fight against him," Lex snarled, the shaking increasing as he said the words, "but his ancestor came out of hiding to fight against Zod. He won and took Lionel off somewhere. Kara and J'onn just went to look for Clark."

Chloe glared at the others before Oliver could demand more information on the Historian than they had. She guided Lex over to one of the chairs that hadn't been overturned. It wasn't smoldering so she made him sit in it. Victor cursed under his breath as he realized that Lex was injured.

"What the hell happened?" Victor asked as he pulled the first aid kit out of the kitchen cabinets and came to kneel by Lex's side.

"Doesn't matter," Lex said. His voice was shaking as badly as he was now.

"He's going into shock," Chloe scolded Victor. "Move aside."

"I don't need…"

Lex's voice trailed off as Chloe took his hand and focused. She didn't really like doing this for something like broken bones but there was no way that she'd let him suffer any longer. Faint pink light glowed along Chloe's fingers as she took his injury away. Her hand cracked and broke as she transferred Lex's injuries to her body. She shut her eyes and focused on his bruises. It didn't take much to heal his injuries. His body was already trying to do it, easing her way.

It was the simplest healing she'd done so far.

"Chloe," Lex hissed as she pulled back and clutched her hand to her chest. "I didn't need that! My hand would have been fine in a week or two."

"Oh shut up," Chloe grumbled at him. "I'll be fine in about five minutes."

They shared a look that was both annoyed and worried for the other, which made Chloe smile in spite of the ache in her rapidly healing hand. Lex smiled too and then chuckled. He slumped back into the chair and laughed out loud. The laughter sounded honestly relieved, as if a huge weight had been taken off of his back.

"Lex?"

They all whirled as Clark's voice sounded from the east window. He sounded frightened, worried and a little pained. Kara was with him, supporting him as they landed. J'onn was right behind them, pushing them both into the Watchtower. Clark gasped and hurried over to Lex's side, looking from him to Chloe's quickly fading bruises. His suit was torn in many places and the central 'S' had been ripped so that it hung to the side instead of standing proudly on his chest.

"What happened?" Clark asked.

"Long story," Lex said with a sigh that sounded like he could finally relax. "I'm okay. Chloe was stupid and healed me even though I didn't need it."

"You had a mangled hand," Chloe huffed at him, "and you were going into shock. You did too need it."

"I would have been fine," Lex said in his most stuck up rich-boy tone of voice. "You hardly needed to waste your powers on me."

Chloe growled at him but Clark snickered, tugging Lex closer so that he could kiss him. Behind them Oliver rolled his eyes and shook his head. She wasn't at all surprised that as soon as Clark and Lex stopped kissing Oliver cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"All right, we have a lot of cleanup to do," Oliver said, "and Dinah's down there dealing with the police alone. Let's get to work, people. Chloe, you're up here until your hand heals. Bart, I want you to scout out how much damage occurred and where we should focus our efforts. Clark, Kara, I need to know who this Historian is and if he's going to be a concern."

"He's not a concern!" Kara huffed before Clark could say a word. "He's the greatest, wisest, most long-lived Kryptonian ever!"

"Yes, but is he an ally or an enemy?" Oliver asked, giving voice to the question that Chloe wanted answered, though not in the way that she would have said it.

"He's neither," Lex said. "Kara has told me a lot about him. He has goals and plans of his own but he's always defended humanity. He's been here for more than 2,500 years, Oliver. He's beyond us. Whatever his reasons were for helping today, I doubt that they had anything to do with me, you or even Lionel. Human concerns are probably so far beneath him as to be irrelevant."

Chloe tried to imagine what it would be like to have lived since the early days of the Roman Empire. She couldn't do it. She couldn't imagine how anyone could live that long and not become utterly jaded to humanity. Lex had to be right. Whatever the Historian's reasons were for coming out of hiding today, the probably had nothing to do with any of them.

+++++

Keeping a secret was a heck of a lot harder when the people you were keeping it from had super hearing and could move faster than you could see. Chloe didn't let that stop her or even slow her down. She did spend a lot of time thinking before she did anything, even reach for her computer to do some research.

When she'd first seen the Historian she'd been struck by how _different_ he was from Clark. He seemed taller, more impressive and so much older. That lasted exactly until the moment when she downloaded the security footage of the fight and saw a still shot of the Historian.

It was Clark.

Not Clark's 'ancestor', not a distant relative, not anything like that. It was Clark Jerome Kent in a black and silver suit instead of a red and blue suit. He had exactly the same face, the same hands, the same hair, the same everything except posture. The only thing that separated Clark from the Historian was the way he held himself and the expression on his face.

She could almost have bought that this was a clone of Clark, or maybe that Clark was a clone of the Historian, if it weren't for the still shot showing his expression as he entered the Watchtower and saw Lex pinned to Lionel-Zod's chest with lightning flashing around him. Chloe had stared at that picture and lost the breath to swear at how sneaky Clark had become during his year 'traveling the world'.

Only Clark would look at Lex with that much love, worry and desperate fear for him.

So she'd asked herself, what if the Historian and Clark were the same person? Given what Kara, J'onn and Clark had all said, the Historian was over 2500 years old. He'd been around since the early Roman era. Chloe didn't see how it could be possible but then she'd remembered how Clark had changed after his trip. Maybe that trip was something entirely other than what he'd claimed?

There wasn't any research that she could do about that. However she could check on Clark's supposed link to the Marcellus family. Kara had been more than happy to tell Chloe about the Historian, usually in incredibly glowing terms that were all but worshipful, but asking her anything about the Marcellus family just got a shrug and questions about whether Bart or AC or Victor thought that Kara was cute.

So she'd turned to libraries and the public record. There were very few pictures of David Marcellus but she'd found hundreds of pictures of his father Antonius, all of which were obviously pictures of Clark in different clothes smiling his cheerful, happy-to-see-you smile. The pictures of David had been Clark with his worried-about-something fretting frowns.

Chloe had to hide her research from the rest of the team. Oliver's paranoia about the Historian and Clark was severe enough that she was pretty sure he'd do something stupid if she allowed him to find out what she suspected. Lex was of course on Clark's side, as was Kara. J'onn, somewhat surprisingly, was also on Clark's side. The guys didn't appear to care one way or the other. Dinah always followed Oliver in public, no matter what she might say to him in private.

Most of Chloe's time was spent trying to figure out what had happened to Lionel. He'd disappeared from sight entirely when the Historian took him. None of her work showed her what had happened to him. Eventually she decided that she had to take more direct measures on both of her research projects.

Italy was beautiful. The flight had been miserably long and the airport confusing once she got there but Chloe managed to mangle enough Italian to get a cab to the Marcellus villa, despite the complete disbelief on the cabby's face. He took her money and drove off, leaving Chloe to stand in front of the grand front gate with her overnight bag, her purse and a headache from hell due to lack of coffee combined with airplane food. Despite her certainty that all of her questions would be answered once she got inside, Chloe had a hard time pushing the call button on the front gate. This would be so awkward if she was wrong.

"Sì? Chi è questo, prego?"

"Um, this is Chloe Sullivan," Chloe said since she wasn't at all sure what the person on the other side of the call box had said. "I'm looking for the Historian."

A very long, very awkward pause followed that extended for long enough that Chloe got twitchy. She peeked through the huge iron gate at the driveway beyond. There wasn't anything to see besides flagstone tiles and a couple of large, impressive boxwoods in pots nearly as big as she was. After long enough that Chloe was contemplating pushing the button again and asking for Clark this time, the gate clicked and then rolled open, allowing her to enter.

"Well, that's a step forward," Chloe murmured as she hurried through the gate.

It started closing again the moment she was inside. The front door was locked when she tried it but when she raised her hand to knock on it the door opened underneath her fist. A tall, severe older man looked at her, raking her with eyes that saw every wrinkle of her clothes and the way she'd started sweating while standing in the sun in front of the gate.

"Come with me, please," he said. His accent was very mild but his disapproval of her almost screamed.

"Thank you," Chloe said because there wasn't much else that she could say at this point.

The villa was gorgeous, not that Chloe did more than ogle a few sculptures and stare at the murals on one wall. The butler or whoever he was led her from the front door to an inner garden that took Chloe's breath away. It was beautiful, graceful and Clark was standing in the middle of it with a shovel, patting down the earth around a small shrubbery that looked to her like some sort of cedar.

"Chloe?" Clark said, staring at her in surprise. "What in the world are you doing in Rome?"

"Looking for the Historian," Chloe said. She dropped her carryon and purse, walking over to stare up into his face. "Glad that I found you."

Clark frowned. He didn't say anything for a long while. Instead he stared into Chloe's eyes. She had no idea what he saw there but eventually he chuckled. When he passed the shovel over to the butler he straightened his shoulders and became someone much older than she ever would have thought Clark could be.

"How'd you figure it out?" Clark asked.

"Saw the expression on your face when you got back from dealing with Brainiac," Chloe said. "On one of the security cameras. It was obvious after that. Why didn't you tell us?"

"Oh gee, Chlo," Clark said sarcastically enough that she winced while following him back into the house, "I got sent back in time and had to live my way back to the future but don't worry it didn't change me. We're still friends and all, aren't we?"

"Ah. Yeah, I guess…" Chloe sighed and made a face. "I suppose I sort of did have a fit when you first came back, didn't I?"

Clark nodded and smiled at her so fondly that she blushed and squared her shoulders too. He grinned and laughed. The kitchen was modern enough to make her blink at the contrast with the rest of the house but had enough stone and traditional touches that it wasn't completely jarring. Another man, this one looking somewhat spooked by her appearance, was busy preparing a tray of tea and decadent-looking pastries.

"Can I have coffee?" Chloe asked Clark.

"Absolutely," Clark laughed. "Didn't get your fix on your way here?"

"I think they were serving colored water that was pretending to be coffee," Chloe said with her best disgusted face.

"Coffee instead of tea, Gabriel," Clark said in suddenly accented English. "Is Raul pouting in his office?"

Gabriel laughed and nodded. He seemed to relax quite a bit though Chloe could see the wariness around his eyes and the slight tremor in his fingers as he made them cappuccino. It smelled heavenly and tasted even better. Chloe groaned as she sipped her little cup. Clark laughed and took the tray of pastries.

"This is so good," Chloe crooned as she followed him.

"Gabriel's a genius," Clark agreed. They ended up in what looked like a high-end spa, sitting on a pair of couches that allowed them to look out on the garden. "So what did you want to know?"

"Where's Lionel? What happened to you? How'd you survive so long? Who did it to you and why?" Chloe asked.

"What are you going to do with the information?" Clark countered.

Chloe looked at him while slowly drinking her cappuccino. She looked away from him to look around the room. It took a moment for her to realize what kept catching her eyes. It was a mosaic portrait; one that showed a Clark Kent that seemed to be long gone. When Chloe stood to go and study it Clark followed her, watching quietly as she ran her fingers over the portrait.

"This is you," Chloe breathed.

"Yes," Clark said in the Historian's grave tones. "I had only been there a few months when Marcus commissioned it. He never expected that it would survive so long. I didn't either. Buying it from the museum that owned it was expensive but worth it I think. It's about the only thing left of that time."

"Of the person that you used to be," Chloe said.

She turned and looked at Clark. He looked back at her, calm and patient in ways that the Clark she'd known in Smallville had never been. It was odd and yet not very odd at all. There wasn't much that she could do to Clark. He was becoming the hero that he should be and he obviously was a lot more mature than Oliver or the others, for all that he acted less mature most of the time. And then there was Lex and their relationship.

"What's your plan?" Chloe asked. "Not that I'm planning on saying anything to anyone but I am curious."

"Which one?" Clark laughed. "I have so many."

+++++

"Just sit still, my friend," Marcus said. He chuckled at the way Kalel fidgeted and tried to watch the artist sketching his profile. "If you do not stay still he will not be able to get a true profile of you."

"But…" Kalel fidgeted some more before turning to squarely stare at Marcus with pure worry in his eyes. "I still don't think this is a good idea, Marcus."

"Turn your head," Marcus laughed. "You would deny an old man his simple pleasures?"

The artist laughed along with Marcus at the dubious expression that Kalel threw at them. Rather than demand a better expression, the artist captured that one, showing Marcus the sketch for his approval while grinning broadly. Marcus grinned just as widely and nodded that he should proceed.

"Marcus," Kalel sighed. "You know that I'm trying not to be obvious about what I am. Why are you having this created?"

"My friend, you have far too high a level of regard for the durability of our creations," Marcus chuckled. "This is not one of the pyramids or the Acropolis in Athens. It is one small mosaic and most mosaics die within a decade at most. Do not worry so. Nothing will be changed by granting an old man a small mural that shows your face."

Kalel grumbled but finally gave in. Every time he saw the artist, though, he got that conflicted expression on his face. The artist did a lovely job capturing it with a combination of true mosaic and painted tiles. He was quite talented. By the time it was done even Kalel had to admit that it was a remarkable resemblance. Marcus proudly placed the final mosaic in the center of the floor of his office that he was having retiled.

"That…" Kalel's voice seemed to fail him when Marcus showed him the completed mosaic and the proposed location for its installation.

"Will get a great deal of traffic and will not survive terribly long, my young friend," Marcus said. He laughed at Kalel's expression of mingled worry and near-insult. "I could of course put it in a more protected place but you did make such a fuss over it that I thought a more exposed location would suit you better."

Kalel groaned and rolled his eyes. "Marcus, do what you want with it. You know I worry. That's all it is."

"Indeed I do, my friend, indeed I do," Marcus agreed.

In the end, Marcus put the mosaic in a much more protected alcove in a quiet part of the house. It was out of the way and thus bothered Kalel much less than it might otherwise, and it was secure enough that Marcus got to enjoy the mosaic for many more years than he had expected to. Several years later Antonius discovered the mosaic.

"This is beautiful, Father," Antonius said as he knelt and ran his fingers gently along the curve of Kalel's chin. "I had no idea that you had it. When was this done?"

"Shortly after his arrival," Marcus said. "It was before your return to Rome. Kal was rather distraught about its creation so I had it installed here, away from his normal activities."

"I love it," Antonius murmured.

He had the same tender expression on his face that had begun to grace his face when he gazed at the real Kalel. Marcus smiled and said nothing about it. Over the next several years Antonius made a point to have the mosaic touched up and protected further. After Antonia was born, Antonius moved the mosaic so that it was in Antonia's bedroom.

Kalel at first turned blindingly red whenever he saw it but little Antonia loved the mural from the moment she could crawl. Over time Kalel seemed to stop seeing it in favor of playing with Antonia and her younger siblings when they came along. The mosaic became rather battered so in the last years of Marcus' life, not that Kalel or Antonius would admit publicly what everyone knew, Marcus had the mosaic refurbished.

"I really wish you hadn't done that," Kalel sighed as Marcus watched the mosaic being reinstalled, this time into a wall mount in one of the hallways.

"I know, I know," Marcus chuckled and then coughed. His lungs were getting so weak of late that it was hard to talk and move around. "Give an old man one last gift, my friend. It gives me joy to see it."

Kalel sat next to Marcus, gently supporting him as he panted for breath after saying so many words in a row. Eventually he helped Marcus to his room and pulled the covers over him so that he could rest. The doubting expression was gone, replaced by one that held sorrow, loss and a crushing sense of inevitability that made Marcus' heart hurt from so much more than advanced old age.

"Rest," Kalel murmured. "I'll be here when you wake."

Marcus nodded, capturing Kalel's fingers to squeeze them gently. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, always."

+++++

"Let me out of here!"

Lionel's shout echoed through the crystalline cell and out into the hallway that was virtually indistinguishable from the cell. He hadn't seen a single person since he'd been consigned to the cell. The alien building was so different that Lionel wasn't at all sure what sort of a place he'd been imprisoned in. It could be a fortress or a prison. Given how alien it was, it could also be someone's summer home. He couldn't imagine that it was a year-round home. It was so icy even with the heating in his cell that Lionel constantly felt cold.

Food had been supplied to him on regular intervals, allowing Lionel to have a gauge of the amount of time that had passed. He thought that it had been about five days, but his watch and phone were both dead and there was no way to judge time other than the food delivery and the light that filtered through the great crystals that made up the building. Lionel was fairly certain that he had to be in the Arctic. The Antarctic would be in perpetual darkness at this time of year and Lionel had only seen the light fade to dim purples and blues for approximately half an hour every day.

There was absolutely nothing to occupy his mind.

He had what he assumed was a toilet, given the way it disposed of his bodily wastes, and a shower that he thought must work on some sort of sonic wave principle. It made his teeth ache when he used it but every time he did he came out cleaner than he ever had with a regular shower. A side benefit was that it also did a fantastic job of cleaning his clothes, which was good because he had only the clothes that he'd been kidnapped in. The bed was a crystalline slab covered with a soft pad that he had been wrapping around his body to create covers.

Other than that he was completely alone, completely unoccupied and so utterly bored that he felt like he was going to go out of his mind at any moment.

"Anyone!"

No one answered. Lionel glared at the apparently open door of his cell. He'd learned on the first day not to attempt to leave. That door was guarded by a painful force field that had knocked him out every time that he tested it. After four days of increasingly cautious tests he'd given up testing. He didn't wish to spend any more time unconscious on the floor. Even brushing a corner of his jacket against the field had knocked him out.

"At least give me something to do!" Lionel bellowed.

Lionel ran his hands over his face, shaking at the memories that assailed his mind in the silence. He wanted nothing more than to forget the other voices in his mind. Zod's cold mentality forcing him down and taking over his body was easier to bear than the lingering feeling that someone else had access to his mind and body. The cell didn't respond to him but Lionel couldn't shake the feeling that something outside of his cell was poking into his mind on regular intervals, as if they were assessing him to determine what he was and how useful he could be.

"Damn it," Lionel muttered.

He threw another glare at the door to his cell as he started pacing the length of his room. It was large enough to be quite comfortable, if only there were something, anything, to divert his mind. He could take eleven full paces from one end to the other and eight paces from the door to the wall with the bed. Lionel was halfway convinced that he'd already managed to memorize every single tint and shade of color in the floors that he'd paced far too many times in the last five days.

He started pacing again, methodically counting the steps to give himself something to do. Each step very deliberately set his toes in specific places, at slight variations of the crystalline floor that functioned rather like watching the tiles as he paced. Lionel was far too aware that his fingers were shaking, that his breath was coming far too fast for simple pacing, but he found that there was nothing he could do about it. This place was going to drive him absolutely mad in very short order if he didn't get something to _do_ soon.

"Interesting."

The single word startled Lionel so badly that he nearly fell over. The strange being who had kidnapped him stood outside the cell door, watching Lionel with an expression that reminded him of his scientists while they ran painful experiments on test subjects. That he was apparently now the test subject only drove his rage, fear and agitation higher. He looked a little like Clark Kent but only a little. Far too much age and distance showed on his face for this to be Clark.

"Who are you?" Lionel demanded. "What are you doing to me? Why are you keeping me here?"

"I had expected that the subject would already have been purged of those experiences," the strange being who resembled Clark said, apparently to the air.

"Purging of the subject's memories has failed," a stern voice said. It sounded like it came from the walls or the floor or maybe the air itself. "The psychic imprint left by Zod was much deeper than expected. It does not appear that the imprint will fade, though more invasive procedures could be utilized to aid in the removal process."

"No," Lionel said as he slowly backed away from the door. His legs hit the side of his bed, tumbling him backwards onto its surface. "No! Leave me alone, damn it! You have no right to do this to me!"

The strange being nodded thoughtfully. He cocked his head to the side and frowned at Lionel. The impression was one of a patron at the zoo being puzzled by the behavior of one of the animals. Lionel's heart was beating so hard that he felt like he was on the verge of a heart attack. Neither the strange being in front of him nor the disembodied voice appeared to consider him to be a person.

"I'm not sure that it's worth the effort," the strange being commented. "It would be far simpler to toss him into the Phantom Zone. His connection to the Brain Interactive Construct and to Zod demands it."

"There may be some utility in him," the disembodied voice said, in a tone that was mildly contradicting. "His imprint could be reworked to allow him to become a remote unit for the Archive."

"I rather doubt that he'd be a very helpful remote," the strange being snorted. He looked amused by the suggestion. "All the records of his behavior to date show that he is far more in Zod's type than mine. I would hesitate to trust such an individual with access to that level of data."

"Controls could be installed," the disembodied voice said. "If it is not a desirable choice, I can prepare the gate to the Zone."

The strange being studied Lionel again, watching him with eyes that seemed to see straight through Lionel. He stood and smoothed his hands over his jacket. They shook so badly that it would have been embarrassing, if Lionel hadn't been far more aware that his ultimate fate was being discussed as if he wasn't there. Whatever the Phantom Zone was, Lionel didn't want to go there. Zod was there and after being possessed one time, he didn't want it to happen again.

"If Zod is in this Zone of yours," Lionel said and was secretly delighted that his voice came out steady and firm, "then you shouldn't send me there. He's taken me once. There's nothing stopping him from doing it again if he gets a chance at me."

"That could be a concern," the disembodied voice said thoughtfully.

"A very minor one," the strange being said with a snort and little roll of his eyes. "I don't know. I have serious doubts about his reliability. Unless you're able to install some very effective controls on him, I think that it would be a better choice to send him to the Phantom Zone."

The strange being turned a left, chatting with the disembodied voice as he went. Their conversation echoed back to Lionel, full of mentions of solar flares, programs and shielding for some sort of satellite project that appeared to be of much higher priority than Lionel's fate.

Once their voices faded out Lionel slammed his fist into the wall. The icy crystal didn't give at all and his knuckles split in three places. Lionel cursed under his breath and wrapped his handkerchief around his knuckles to staunch the flow of blood. He returned to his pacing, this time ignoring the floor in favor of replaying the entire conversation in his head. There had to be something that he could do to get out of here. They might not consider him to be a person but apparently at least one of them thought he might be useful. He'd work with that, though what he could do to convince them wasn't clear at all.

+++++

"What do you mean, 'so many' plans?" Chloe asked.

Clark grinned at her and headed back to their seats by the window. Even the way he moved was different now from the boy that she'd known growing up in Smallville. He moved like a warrior, like a leader, like someone who knew exactly what he was doing and exactly how to get what he wanted. She followed him and settled back into her chair, watching Clark as he took a pastry and started eating it while thinking.

"The major way that I kept my sanity over the centuries was by having plans, Chlo," Clark explained. "It started as a way for me to cope with the fear of changing history. Eventually it simply became part of how I do things. I've got plans on how to handle you, the League, Oliver, my friends, Kara, though she's doing a lovely job of destroying all of those plans. I never expected her to be such a publicity hog."

"She really does love being on TV," Chloe agreed. She took one of the pastries and groaned when she tried it. "He's a genius."

"He so is," Clark agreed. "I swear, if I weren't Kryptonian I'd be five hundred pounds. Such a good cook!"

Chloe snickered at the thought of Clark weighing that much. She couldn't really picture it but it still made her laugh. Savoring the pastry gave her the chance to think about how to rephrase her question to be more precise. If he had that much going on then she really did need to narrow down what she wanted to know.

"Lionel," Chloe said around her last bite of pastry. Clark nodded encouragingly. "What happened to him?"

"He's at the Fortress of Solitude," Clark said. "I've got the AI there working to eradicate all traces of the stuff he injected. It gave him powers but it also did some rather nasty things to his body. He wouldn't have survived very long, more than likely less than two weeks. That's why Brainiac and Zod wanted Lex. His regeneration would have allowed him to survive as Zod's Vessel for much longer."

Chloe winced at the thought of Lionel with super powers. It had been terrifying to see him that way, even though he hadn't really been Lionel. At least he wouldn't have lasted long. She dusted the crumbs off of her lap, studying Clark.

"So it's been five weeks and he's still not fixed?" Chloe asked.

"No, the powers are long gone," Clark clarified. "What we're working on now is a good bit more complex. I'm very reluctant to allow Lionel to run around free but he hasn't committed crimes that warrant his being sent to the Phantom Zone. That's the Kryptonian version of prison." Chloe nodded and gestured for Clark to continue. "There's… a project that I'd like to have someone working on constantly and Lionel's being… we'll call it 'trained' to handle it."

"Voluntarily or involuntarily?" Chloe asked warily.

"More or less voluntarily," Clark chuckled. He had that very old, very alien expression on his face again, the one that made Chloe shiver at how different he was from the Clark she knew. "Granted, we did manipulate him quite a bit but this is Lionel we're talking about. He's rather unreliable and frankly, I won't allow him to be truly free. He'd attack Lex again and that is one thing I will not permit."

Chloe opened her mouth to say something but closed it again as she realized that Clark's expression reminded her of Lex's best 'I'm obsessed with this and have to fix it' face. It also closely resembled Oliver's expression when he talked about Clark and the Historian lately. She cocked her head at him, considering everything he'd said and done.

"He hurt Lex before, didn't he?" Chloe said. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Badly," Clark said. His voice dropped into a growl as he looked away at the garden with so much pain on his face that she shivered. "Very badly. I couldn't… I couldn't act to help him before, Chlo. My hearing locked in on Lex's heartbeat right after he was born. I've been listening to his life ever since and the things that Lionel did to Lex and Lillian are… criminal. Unfortunately the statute of limitations long since ran out and Lex wouldn't want it dragged through the courts anyway. I may not be able to punish Lionel for his crimes but I can prevent him from committing any more. And I will."

His expression was calm, confident and faintly defiant as he turned back to Chloe. She could see that he expected her to argue with him, with his being judge, jury and executioner for Lionel. It bothered her a little bit but she just nodded. Lionel had done terrible things. Chloe knew that as well as Clark did, though obviously he knew what Lionel had done in far greater detail than she did. If it had been Lois being hurt or her dad, Chloe would have done the same thing.

"So you've got a project for him," Chloe said. "What's he going to be doing?"

Clark laughed, grinning brightly at her. "Not saying. Sorry, Chloe, but that's one of those things I won't tell you about. Let's just say that it's part of my plans for the future and that Lionel may actually help save the world."

"That's a switch," Chloe snorted. "Fine, so what are you going to do about me? I know a lot about you now. Am I a threat to you?"

"Are you?" Clark asked.

He studied Chloe with his head cocked to the side. The weight of his gaze suddenly felt like a million pounds, like being examined under a microscope. Chloe fidgeted, fighting the urge to swallow down the lump in her throat and start babbling things. This was too important for her nervousness to get the better of her.

"What's your ultimate goal?" Chloe asked instead of babbling. She clenched her hands in her lap to keep them from shaking.

"Two things," Clark said as his expression slid into something so kind and gentle that it made Chloe's heart lurch a little. "First, take care of Lex and make him happy. He'll always be my first, best priority."

"That's kind of obvious," Chloe laughed. It came out a little shaky but not too badly. "And the other goal?"

"See humanity become a space faring species with a true place among the stars," Clark said. His smile as he said it was so bright that it was nearly blinding. "I've been working on that one for over three hundred years now."

Chloe blinked at him and then slowly nodded. She laughed, unclenched her hands and then leaned forward to offer her hand to him. Clark looked at her hand and then back at her face with one eyebrow raised. Chloe smiled at him.

"Then you've got a partner, Clark," Chloe said. "I don't see how being a journalist will help with that but I'm sure that's part of your plans."

"It is," Clark said as he took her hand and ceremoniously shook it. They both grinned at each other. "Not a big part but still a part. Mostly I just had this friend I really looked up to who thought being a journalist was the best thing ever and well, I kind of want to let the world know about all the good things and bad things that are going on. Seems like a good way to pass my time as my plans work their way to fruition."

Chloe blushed and blew a raspberry at him, which made Clark laugh out loud. They grinned at each other and then took another pastry to munch on. She sighed at how good hers was, looking out at the garden for a long moment.

"So tell me what happened," Chloe said. "Not all the plans and stuff. What happened in the past? Who'd you meet? What was Rome like way back then?"

Clark brushed crumbs off of his lips and grinned at her. "It's a long story."

"I've got time," Chloe said with a matching grin. "My flight back home doesn't leave until tomorrow afternoon."

"Oh, then you have to see the rest of the baths," Clark exclaimed. "Seriously, you'll love them. Took tons of money to get them set up but they're exact replicas of ancient Roman baths, other than the water being heated by propane instead of coal. Come on. I'll show you the whole house. It's a very close replica of the house Marcus, the person who found me and saved me in the past, owned."

He bounced to his feet and headed back out into the rest of the house, already pointing things out and explaining as he walked. Chloe followed him, marveling at this new version of Clark. He wasn't the boy she'd known but the man he'd grown into was fascinating. And as much fun as the old Clark had ever been.

+++++

"Mmm, glad that you're back," Lex murmured into Kal's shoulder.

The shoulder under his cheek shivered with quiet laughter. Kal's lips brushed over Lex's scalp. He could feel Kal's smile. Ever since Superman had gone public their time together had shrunk until Lex sometimes felt like he'd become a distant priority in Kal's life. It was absurd and Lex knew it. He could see how the emergencies that Kal responded to knit into the long-range plans that Kal had described to him. Having Superman out there being a very public force for good was important not only to the world but also to all the various aliens and metas that looked up to him.

"Missed you," Kal murmured back.

"I noticed that," Lex said with his best smirky voice.

Kal laughed out loud this time, making Lex pull back to smirk down at him. As far as Lex was concerned the smirk was totally justified. After three days of Superman dealing with emergencies around the world, the first thing he'd done on his return had been to push Lex back onto the bed, strip them both naked and then give Lex a blow job that had nearly drained his brains out through his cock. The sex that followed had been passionate enough that Lex had feared for the survival of their bed frame. Breaking this one would have made it the fourth bed that they'd destroyed together since Kal's return to the current day.

"Well, I didn't get to see you for days," Kal said in Clark's shy but amused voice.

The occasional glimpses of the boy the Clark had been when they'd met made Lex's heart lurch with happiness and lust. No matter how much he loved Kal, it had been the innocent farm boy Clark who had first captured Lex's heart. He curled back up on top of Kal's chest, hugging his precious Kryptonian tightly.

"I rather miss the days before you were 'revealed'," Lex sighed.

"Mmm, I don't," Kal said while running his hands over Lex's back with just enough pressure to relax the lingering tightness there but not quite hard enough to make it a massage. "I'm glad that I'm only living two lives now. Keeping track of three completely separate sets of responsibilities was a chore."

"I suppose so," Lex said, "but I still miss being able to spend hours in bed with you. Ever since Superman went public we haven't had much time together."

"It should calm down a little soon," Kal reassured Lex. "Not a lot, but a little. The public is getting used to Superman and Kara's doing a lovely job being a distraction as a Marcellus and as Supergirl. They'll leave us alone soon."

Lex nodded, though he was not at all sure that Kal was right about that. To him it didn't look like things were going to calm down at all. If anything, he would have said that they would get even crazier. There were so many things to juggle, so many projects and plans to tend to, that he truly couldn't see how they would manage to have enough time for each other.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Kal's voice was soft and worried.

"This is just the lull before the storm," Lex said while trying to relax his shoulders. They felt like they were made of solid rock all of a sudden. "There's so much to do that we'll have even less time."

Kal snickered loudly. Lex growled and reared up on his elbows to glare at him. It was far from his most effective glare given that he was still nestled between Kal's legs and his elbows were set on Kal's chest but Lex did his best to make it effective. Kal just grinned at him before sitting up and kissing Lex soundly. He was still grinning once he let Lex's lips go.

"Trust me, we'll find time," Kal said. "Seriously, I would have thought that you realized that it's always the calm before the storm, unless you're in the middle of the storm. That's just the way life is. There's too much to do and not enough time, so you set your priorities and do as much as you can."

"Humph," Lex grunted. He tried to keep the brewing smile off of his lips but wasn't terribly successful. "Well, when you put it that way. I suppose that your sense of perspective is one of the benefits of your long life."

"Oh yes," Kal said with a solemn nod that was utterly destroyed by the laughter twinkling in his eyes. "It's the very best benefit, well, second best anyway."

Lex chuckled, settling back down on top of Kal. Both of their cocks were starting to react again. They shifted position, with Kal straddling Lex's hips. He was still wet from the first round so Lex slid in easily. They both groaned at how good it felt.

"So what's the top benefit?" Lex asked while using one hand to stroke Kal's cock and the other to pinch one of his nipples. The purr started up, making Lex grin.

"Stamina," Kal said through the purr.

"Oh hell," Lex groaned.

Kal laughed and set a slow, steady pace that had Lex cursing at him in very short order. Pinned underneath as he was, there wasn't anything that Lex could do to get Kal to move faster. Honestly, he wasn't sure that he wanted to speed things up. Long, slow, almost lazy sex wasn't something that they got to do much of anymore and Lex found that he was enjoying it more than was likely healthy for his cock.

"Kal…"

The purr faltered at Lex's desperate growl. Kal's eyes shut and he started panting. Lex crooned at him, sitting up so that he could stroke Kal's body and gently encourage him to move faster and harder. They settled into a rhythm that had the bed rocking and both of them panting in unison.

"Lex," Kal gasped.

"Do it," Lex ordered, his lips set against Kal's ear. "Do it now!"

Kal whined and bucked one last time before clamping down on Lex's cock. Warm wet bloomed between them, the combination of which pushed Lex over the edge. They clung together for a long while, nuzzling each other's faces until their breathing stabilized and the sweat began to cool. Lex collapsed back onto the bed. Kal's weight shifted off of his hips and to the side before settling down next to Lex.

"We so need to do more of that," Kal murmured sleepily into Lex's shoulder.

"Absolutely," Lex agreed. "Preferably after some sleep. And a clean up."

Kal chuckled, blurred away and back again with a washcloth. Once they were both cleaned up they settled under the covers together. Lex twined his legs between Kal's; smiling at the way they all but wrapped themselves around the other.

"I wonder what disaster will hit next," Lex murmured sleepily.

"Mmm?" Kal sounded like was already three quarters asleep. He yawned and shrugged one shoulder. "Probably something news media related. They've been too respectful. Don't worry about it. We'll deal with it when it happens."

Lex smiled at the snores that started immediately after Kal stopped talking. It might be the quiet before the storm or it might not. He hardly cared. As long as he had Kal in his life it would all be worth it. After adjusting the covers slightly, Lex set his head on Kal's shoulder and fell asleep nearly immediately.

+++++

"It really bugs me that we don't know anything about the Historian," Oliver grumbled as he worked on the computer. "Who is this guy? I know Chloe's working on investigating him but she keeps telling me she doesn't have anything. There's got to be _something_ out there. He's lived thousands of years, right?"

Oliver turned to look at J'onn. They had watch while the others were off doing their own things. Dinah had said something about coming in to visit for a while but so far she hadn't show up. That was fine with Oliver. He welcomed the chance to ask J'onn what he knew about the Historian. There had to be some sort of connection between him and Clark, and who knew how the Historian might be influencing Clark.

"I believe I will request a change to the watch schedule," J'onn said in such a stiff, offended tone that Oliver stared at him. He looked as offended as he sounded, enough so that Oliver pushed his seat back a little.

"Um, what's wrong?"

"I find it quite unpleasant to be required to spend time around such blatant paranoia," J'onn replied.

"I'm not paranoid!" Oliver squawked.

J'onn's indignant snort made Oliver rock back into his chair. When Oliver opened his mouth to protest J'onn narrowed his eyes at him. He'd never seen J'onn this angry before so he snapped his mouth shut again without saying a word.

"You are exceedingly paranoid about aliens, Oliver Queen," J'onn declared. "You quite obviously do not realize it but you are. I find it offensive in the extreme, especially when you direct that unjustified paranoia towards the Historian."

His face and hair shifted. The hair disappeared and J'onn's skin changed from brown to vivid green. The dark eyes that Oliver was so familiar with began to glow red. Oliver swallowed hard, keeping his seat pretty much entirely from force of will. At times he forgot that J'onn wasn't a human Meta. He knew it but he didn't really _know_ it inside until J'onn made it obvious, as he was now.

"I have been on Earth since the 1950's, Oliver Queen," J'onn said in a voice that was dramatically different and yet very much the same as his normal voice. "I have watched this world and the cultures on it grow in incredible ways. You seem to assume that humanity has never had aliens visiting in its long history. You are quite wrong about that."

He stood, beginning to pace next to the monitors. Oliver wanted to stand up to but J'onn speared him with a ferocious glare that reminded him of Dinah getting ready to chew his butt for being an idiot. He stayed put. It wasn't often that J'onn spoke about his past.

"I was an Enforcer before I arrived on earth," J'onn said.

"What's that?" Oliver asked quickly before J'onn could go on.

"It is the functional equivalent to an intergalactic police officer," J'onn said. The red of his eyes narrowed down to a slit as he glared at Oliver. "Martian culture was far in advance of Earth culture as our world matured more rapidly than yours did. While humans were scratching out an existence with hunting and foraging the Martians already had great cities and had traveled to the stars. We met many other races, including the Kryptonians. They were a great race, always concerned with other species and the galactic civilization."

Oliver's head swam a little at the thought that there was a galactic civilization. He'd always sort of assumed that if there were other races there wouldn't be much contact between them. The distance between stars was so great that interstellar travel seemed impossible but J'onn implied that it was not only possible, maybe even easy for a sufficiently advanced race. He suddenly felt very young and very stupid.

"I will not say that they were perfect for they were people just as Martians and Humans are people," J'onn continued while pacing the length of the monitor room. "But they were a good and wise race. The wisest Kryptonian ever to exist is the Historian. He made mistakes as a youth and as punishment was sent to live on Earth but he has grown and learned in the time he has spent here."

"You sound like you know him pretty well," Oliver said when J'onn appeared to have calmed a little bit.

"He saved my life," J'onn said so baldly that Oliver jumped in his seat. "I would not have survived being exiled to Earth were it not for the Historian. He saved my life, my sanity, gave me a purpose to live and has helped me in every way that he could. Whenever a Traveler comes to Earth, the Historian watches them and ensure that they are not a threat to Humanity. He aids those that need it, allows those who are no threat to go about their business and fights when the Traveler is a threat to the people he has chosen as his own."

"What do you mean 'chosen'?" Oliver asked. He leaned forward to study J'onn, resting his elbows on his knees.

J'onn sighed and looked out the window. He seemed very alien in that moment of silence. Oliver could easily believe that he was seeing colors that Oliver's eyes couldn't see, hearing things that Oliver's ears couldn't hear. And yet Oliver didn't find him threatening at that moment. If anything, J'onn seemed tragic, as though there was a whole epic that had passed and Oliver was seeing the wreckage left over after all the action was completed and everyone had gone home.

"He could have gone back to Krypton," J'onn murmured. "He had many opportunities to return to his homeworld. My homeworld is gone, Oliver. I have no home to return to. The Historian had opportunities to go home and he chose to stay on Earth instead."

He turned and looked into Oliver's eyes as if trying to bore straight through his head with his eyes. Oliver shivered at the sorrow on J'onn's alien face.

"Krypton was destroyed when Clark was but a baby, Oliver," J'onn said so quietly that the words barely reached Oliver's ears. "Mars still exists. Krypton is gone. All that is left of Krypton is scattered shards of rock and gas. The Historian was aware that it might happen. He probably could have stopped the war but he chose protecting Humanity over saving Krypton."

"How can you trust him when he turned his back on his own people?" Oliver asked with so much horror curdling his guts that he didn't think about it before the words came out of his mouth.

J'onn glared at him and his hands glowed with fire for a moment before J'onn whirled and stomped out of the room. Oliver cursed at himself for a while. Someday he really did need to learn to listen instead of asking questions.

"You sure insulted his hero," Dinah said from the doorway.

"You were listening?" Oliver asked. He smiled as she came to sit in J'onn's abandoned chair.

"Mmm-hmm," Dinah murmured. She leaned her elbows on the console so that she could rest her chin in her hands while studying him. The little smirk on her lips made him want to growl. "Seriously, I think he's got a bad case of hero worship for the Historian. So does Kara. Anytime I talk to her about the Historian she's all awed. I swear she almost glows with how much she admires him. Lex is much more restrained but he has that same sort of awe going."

"Why?" Oliver asked, more than aware of the whining tone of his voice. "They don't really know anything about what he's doing! We still have no clue where Lionel is or what happened to him. We don't know if Brainiac will be back. We don't know if Zod will be back, for heaven's sake!"

Dinah put her fingers over his mouth, stopping his rant before he could get going. The smirk faded away into a serious frown that made her look older than she actually was. Oliver shut up, trying to force his worry about the Historian down.

"We know one thing," Dinah said far too calmly. "We know that four separate heroes, if you want to call Lex a hero, who look up to the Historian. J'onn, Kara, Clark and Lex all consider him to be one of the best people around. He might not be part of the team but that doesn't make him evil, Ollie. It just means that he's not a joiner. You know that there are lots of heroes who won't join up for one reason or another. We might not know much about him but we don't know much about that new Bat guy in Gotham or the other hero from Japan either."

"I just…" Oliver let his voice trail off. He didn't know how to continue the sentence without sounding as paranoid as J'onn had implied he was.

"You just worry," Dinah said kindly. "That doesn't mean we have anything to worry about with the Historian."

Oliver nodded and let the subject go, at least for now. He didn't like not knowing. There was something more there. It wasn't obvious but Oliver could tell that there was something off about the Historian and his connection to Clark. The universality of the response to the Historian bugged him too. No one was actually that _good_.

And besides, just because you're paranoid didn't mean that they _weren't_ out to get you.

+++++

Kal settled into his desk at the Chicago Tribune, letting the noise of the bullpen wash over him. A couple dozen desks, their occupants, as many typewriters and telephones, plus the head editor bellowing across the room always made for a terrific din but he'd gotten used to it since he came to work at the newspaper several months ago.

"Arthur!" Agnes called as she hurried over from her desk in the society section. "Will you be a dear and check this for me? I trust you to get my spelling right before I give this to the editor."

"Sure Agnes," Kal said with a wry grin. "This is the only one today, isn't it?"

Agnes laughed and licked her lips in a way that said it was yet another of her attempts to attract his attention but she nodded gamely enough before heading back to the other women in the society section. They all giggled together as Kal set to work editing her article on Greta Garbo. Garbo being Garbo, there wasn't much substance to the article. It mostly consisted of gushing over her latest movie and speculations about her extremely private life. He marked out the comparison to Jean Harlow as irrelevant and more than a little catty.

"Why do you do that?" Ralph asked from the desk neighboring Kal's. "You know that she's just trying to catch your eye, Arthur."

"I know," Kal agreed with a wry grin that he carefully turned away so that the ladies couldn't see it. "But at least it'll go to the editor mostly correct."

"Provided she can type it up right," Ralph laughed. "You get the latest on Capone's trial?"

"Mmm-hmm," Kal said absently. "Nothing much new, though Willie did get some great photos. He's down developing them now."

"Good, good," Ralph murmured as he set to work on his latest article.

By the time Kal finished the edits Agnes was hovering by his elbow, twisting her fingers nervously. She winced at all the red ink on the page when he handed it back. Kal did his best not to laugh at her dismay. She was a new reporter and Rao knew that she needed to work on her spelling and grammar. Despite that, he tried not to rub her nose in the fact that she was a terrible writer. She was improving and that was what counted.

"Arthur, it looks like you killed a chicken on it," Agnes complained.

"Well, you did have a lot of misspellings and there were some phrases that I thought could be tightened up," Kal said. "Looks good other than that. Make the edits and you should be ready to give it to the editor."

"Thank you," Agnes signed with a distinctly put-upon air. She slowly meandered her way back to her desk, reading over his edits and nodding.

Kal smiled and set to work writing his own article. Al Capone's trial looked to be going to closing arguments soon. In his opinion, the government had Capone dead to rights but most of the other reporters at the trial thought that Capone would get off. Despite the knocks that Capone's reputation had taken during the trial, many people that Kal had spoken to felt that he couldn't possibly be kept in jail. Between his celebrity and the mob connections, it wasn't a bad guess.

By the time Kal was done typing, editing and then retyping his story, it was lunchtime. It was a struggle not to let his knowledge of the future influence how he wrote his articles. It had been ever since he became a reporter. Keeping what he considered to be common historical knowledge out of his writing remained his biggest challenge. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, he enjoyed being a reporter quite a lot.

It was honestly fun to do the job. He liked the writing. Interviewing people was something he was spectacularly good at after centuries of dealing with people of all types. And research was comfortingly familiar rather than the chore that it seemed to be to the other reporters. Being a newspaper reporter fit him like a glove, somewhat to his surprise.

He'd spent centuries pondering what sort of job would work best with his intention to become a superhero once he'd returned to his normal time. With the fortune that he was building for the Marcellus 'family', Kal knew that he'd have to be in the public eye a great deal of the time. So a job that either let him play the part of a rich, eccentric playboy or one that let him pretend to be so boring as to be unworthy of reporting on seemed to be the best choice.

Since he'd taken the job at the Tribune he'd reconsidered those thoughts. Playboys spent a huge amount of time in the public eye, even in the 1930's. By the time the 21st century rolled around, Kal doubted that it would be possible for him to play that role successfully due to modern technology and the ever-present paparazzi. It would take far more focus than Kal had to be a crime fighter on the side while going to parties and spending large amounts of money. Besides, he wasn't at all comfortable with the idea of seeming to change that much from Clark Kent's humble beginnings.

No, a quiet job or one that would afford him some latitude with the media seemed to be the best choice. Kal thought that he'd either become a relatively quiet writer of some sort of romantic fiction or a newspaper reporter. With the future decline of the newspaper industry he'd be less known than a television reporter and he'd have the latitude to run out frequently to do his job as a superhero. As a reporter he'd also gain that peculiar blind spot that seemed to result when someone shared a job in common with you.

"Arthur," Ralph called as Kal gathered up his fedora and coat, "I was going to head over to Barleycorn's for lunch. Care to join me?"

"No thanks, Ralph," Kal said. He settled his hat on his head and smiled at Ralph in his best 'that sounds great but I really can't afford it' way. "I was going to head down to the drugstore to the lunch counter. Have fun."

"You ought to get out more and have fun," Ralph sighed as they headed downstairs together. "People are going to talk if you don't."

"I don't care," Kal replied. He counted the days since his last trip out with Ralph and the guys and decided it was another of Ralph's less than subtle attempts to entice him into a purely sexual relationship. "I like living a quiet life. Reporting the news is enough for me. I'd rather just have some soup and a sandwich than anything fancier."

Ralph rolled his eyes and patted Kal's shoulder just a little too familiarly. Kal shrugged and headed up the street to the drugstore. Chicago wasn't a bad place to be right now, even with Prohibition and the gangsters everywhere. It made a nice change from his relative fame in Rome, though Kal did prefer the weather in Rome to Chicago's October chill. After a simple lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup and Welch's, Kal headed back to work. He wasn't at all surprised to find that Ralph hadn't made it back. He wouldn't be back for at least another hour, more likely two given the speakeasy he'd gone off to. Before Kal could start working on his next article, the phone rang.

"Yes?"

"Sir," Antonio, Kal's butler in Rome, said in barely Italian flavored English, "It would be highly convenient if you were to put in an appearance today."

"Something important that I forgot?" Kal asked. He checked the calender next to the phone and didn't see any coded notes to himself.

"No, sir," Antonio replied. "There are several parties going on in the neighboring houses and the neighbors have commented on your apparent refusal to attend them."

"Ah," Kal sighed. "All right, I'll be there shortly. Lay out clothes appropriate for my having had a cold and stayed in for the last several days."

"Of course, sir," Antonio said.

Kal made a show of jotting down notes and then gathering up his things as if he was going out to track down a lead on a story. Agnes waved goodbye to him, giggling when he waved back. The alley out back was empty when he stepped into it so Kal took the opportunity to fly straight up into the air.

"I don't know how Lamont Cranston does it," Kal murmured as he flew around the world to his home in the suburbs of Rome. "Balancing two lives is hard work."

It was his own fault, of course. Kal knew that. He was the one who had decided that he was tired of living in the public's eye at a time when he needed to be building his resources as a Marcellus. His plans wouldn't allow him to abandon the Marcellus fortune so the deception of two lives lived on two separate continents was necessary, if occasionally irritating.

Still, it wouldn't be too much of a bother today. A quick appearance as Pietro Marcellus to convey the impression that he'd had a cold and he could get back to his quieter life in Chicago. Kal held his hat to his chest as he flew around the globe and zipped into his suburban house in Rome. It wasn't the villa that he remembered from his early days in the city but it was a nice enough house, especially for one man and a handful of servants.

Kal used his speed to change into the clothes that Antonio had laid out. He could hear one of the neighbors at the door so after mussing his hair and using a discrete bit of makeup for his nose and eyes to make it look like they were both red, he ambled out to see what was going on.

"Pietro, darling," Adriana cooed the instant she spotted him. "Wherever have you been? I'm having a lovely party tonight and I so hoped that you could attend."

"Thank you, my dear," Kal said with a sniffle that made Adriana's eyebrow go up nearly into her hairline. "But you truly do not want to be any closer to me than this. I'm afraid I caught a dreadful cold and I'd hate to give it to you and your guests. I should have known better than to go swimming in this weather."

"Oh Pietro," Adriana sighed, shaking her head at him in overdone dismay. "You truly must take better care of yourself. How will you ever survive to find a wife if you keep doing these foolish things? It's October, for heaven's sake."

"I know, I know," Kal said with a tired wave as if her words were too much to bear. "Trust me, my dear, I truly do know. Would that I'd thought before I took that dip."

One of the maids brought him a mug of tea with honey and lemon so thick in it that the spoon nearly stood up on its own. It took several more minutes and Kal dramatically flopping into one of the chairs while blowing his nose as loudly as if it was a horn for Adriana to leave. Kal snorted once she was gone. He'd have to make several more appearances over the next several days to further his story of having been sick but it would be worth it for the freedom from putting in appearances at the parties in the neighborhood.

"I really ought to move," Kal complained to Antonio. "Someplace quiet where they won't bother me."

"They will follow you, sir," Antonio said with such a wry chuckle that Kal had to laugh too. "That's how we ended up here, you know."

"Hmph."

They shared an amused look because Antonio was quite right. Kal had tried to flee from the celebrity of being Pietro Marcellus more than once. He still wasn't sure exactly what he'd done to earn society's interest in this time and place, though it might be as simple as being apparently young, rich and good-looking.

"Ah well, I'll just have to find some way to be boring," Kal said while wiping the makeup away.

"You could always have an affair with one of the serving girls and marry her," Antonio said entirely too calmly. "And then treat her with respect and settle down to have children."

"Yes, I know your sister is available," Kal groaned and rolled his eyes. "And you know that I don't enjoy women in that way."

"And she does not want a man in that way," Antonio said with a shark-like grin that transformed him from the proper butler he had become back into the young street hoodlum he'd been when Kal met him. "If you were to keep Lina around then I know she would be amenable to the arrangement."

Kal laughed and shook his head at Antonio. It wasn't a bad plan, though of course a great many details would need to be worked out before he would consider putting it into action. They headed towards the kitchen where Antonio's sister worked.

"You know we'd have to name our first child for you," Kal said with a wolfish grin of his own.

Antonio blushed but raised his chin defiantly. "I should hope so, sir. Though really, I know you would only have the one to create your new identity."

"Actually I was thinking of two this time around," Kal said thoughtfully. "There are some things I'll need to do in a couple of decades that would be better done off on the side but still as a Marcellus. Not that I would enjoy juggling that many identities but it might be better to arrange for two children instead of one."

Kal dismissed the thought as something to ponder for the future. Developing Kara's future identity was a task for another time. He had his current two lives to worry about, plus his entirely unwelcome celebrity as Pietro to deal with. The future would be dealt with once it came.

+++++

Flashes blazed as Clark Kent, head ducked shyly, crossed the platform to claim his diploma in Journalism. Lois whistled and cheered from her spot among the guests though she made sure to glare at the photographer the Planet had sent to cover the story. She still wasn't sure why Clark had insisted on completing his degree after he got the Marcellus fortune but hey, it was Smallville. He did things like that.

Chloe applauded proudly from Lois' right and Kara cheered on Lois' left. She was getting as much attention as Clark, which really wasn't that much of a surprise. While Clark seemed determined to pretend that he was still just a small town farm boy, Kara had embraced her status as rich, powerful and famous with everything she had. She seemed to love the media blitz and sought out occasions where she could talk to reporters. Lois could have sworn that she had a new boyfriend every week, though there seemed to be a few that stuck around longer.

By the time the diplomas were distributed to the rest of the graduates Clark had disappeared with Lex, leaving Kara to the limelight. Lois slipped from Chloe's side to rejoin the Planet's photographer. Let the others focus on Kara. Lois was determined to get a story on Clark and how he was handling his rise to fame and fortune. It should have been easy enough given that she had known him for years now but Clark, the putz, was being stubborn about giving her the interview.

"Did you get a good shot of him?" Lois hissed before Chloe could join them.

"Yeah, yeah," Jimmy said, showing her a couple of shots on his camera that highlighted Clark's shy smile and surprising good looks. "These turned out really good, I think. I'll send them to you. I gotta get back to work, Ms. Lane. Perry wants me to get some more close-ups of Kara if I can manage it."

"Sure, you do that," Lois said with a casual pat on Jimmy's shoulder that sent him off before Chloe could ask him what he'd gotten. "Hey Coz, are we going to Clark's graduation party? He is having one, right?"

"Yes, but he specifically asked me to tell you that he's not going to give any interviews, Lois," Chloe said. She smirked and crossed her arms on her chest at Lois' involuntary start of surprise. "Come on, you know that he hates the publicity. Why do you keep badgering him about this?"

"It's such a great story, Chlo!" Lois replied while digging through her purse for the notebook where she'd scribbled some ideas for the story. "Come on, you have to admit it. He came from this poor farming family in the middle of Kansas, adopted, and has parents who adore him and then boom! Out of nowhere he's got money, fame, power, all the stuff everyone wants. It's a terrific story right there, without even including getting his best friend as his lover at last and their happy relationship. There are gay kids all over the country who'd love to know that its possible to have a fairy tale happy ending like that."

Chloe rolled her eyes as Lois ranted. She snatched the notebook out of Lois' hand and skimmed over the scribbles. By the time she was done reading it over Chloe was nodding slowly as if it did look like a really good story which made Lois beam at her as she handed the notebook back.

"It does look decent," Chloe said warningly, "but you know that neither of them are going to let it go forward. Clark owns the Daily Planet, Lo. He's not going to let the paper put out an article on his life. He hates the publicity."

Lois grumbled while tucking the notebook back into her purse. Chloe was right but that didn't change the fact that Lois wanted to write the article. It was her second favorite idea for an article, right after getting the first interview with Superman. Superman was even more camera-shy than Clark, avoiding reporters like they had the plague. She'd almost given up on the idea of getting an interview with Superman, which meant that she could focus on getting one with Clark.

When they got to the Luthor Tower it was mobbed by paparazzi. LuthorCorp's security guards checked their car and verified their identities before allowing the two of them into the parking garage. Once parked, another group of security guards checked the trunk for stowaways and scanned both of them for hidden mikes, cameras and other recording equipment. They got ID's that allowed them into the lobby and then a fierce female bodyguard personally escorted them up to the penthouse where the party was being held.

"Wow," Lois breathed once they were deposited just inside the front door of the penthouse. "That was more intense than I expected."

"So write an article about that," Chloe suggested as she passed her coat and purse over to the servants. "I think that's a bigger thing than getting an interview with Clark."

"Quit trying to discourage me," Lois complained. She handed over her coat as an afterthought, keeping her person on her shoulder. "I thought you liked that I was taking the reporting thing seriously."

"I do," Chloe said with that roll of her eyes that meant that she thought Lois was being overly dramatic and too forceful again. "I just think that there are other angles that you could take that won't get the story killed."

Lois ignored that. Chloe chuckled and ignored Lois ignoring her. They both blatantly ignored each other's ignoring, which had them laughing like they were little girls again by the time they reached the living room. It was a really small party, no surprise. Clark was curled up on the couch with Lex, cuddled against his side like an overgrown kitten. Oliver was there with his new girlfriend, Diana or Dinah or D-something. Lois didn't remember what her name was. D-girl wrapped her arms around Ollie's arm possessively the instant she spotted Lois. Lois smirked at her and straightened up, throwing her shoulders back in just the right way to make her bust stick out. D-girl's eyes went so narrow that Lois gave herself several points.

The buffet was under attack by Clark's other friends, Bart and Vic and AC. Martha and Jonathan were talking quietly with some older guys that Lois didn't recognize. She nudged Chloe and jerked her chin at the strangers.

"Who're they?" Lois whispered.

"That's Raul and Gabriel," Chloe murmured back. "They were David Marcellus' staff but Clark made friends with them when he was over there so he invited them to come to his graduation."

"Oh," Lois said, dismissing them from her mind. They weren't important, not like getting her article.

She spent a while circulating and talking to everyone, including Ollie and his D-girlfriend, whatever her name was. Lois deliberately didn't remember it when Ollie introduced her again. Dinah's irritated expression at Ollie's pointed gaze straight at Lois' chest was too much fun to diffuse. Served him right for dumping Lois all those years ago. Eventually she made it to the couch where Clark and Lex were sitting.

"No, you can't interview me," Clark said the instant she sat down.

"Aw, come on," Lois complained. "I haven't even asked yet."

"I don't like the publicity, Lois," Clark said in a distinct pout that reminded her of when they'd first met. "I really don't want to give out interviews and I own the Planet now. You're not getting it published no matter what you do."

"That's so not fair," Lois complained. "Kara gives out interviews all the time. Why won't you?"

Lex had his smirk buried in Clark's hair as he laughed at the two of them. Clark was glaring at her as if she was being stupid. Lois glared right back at him. She dug out her scribbled article and added a few fast lines about the media crush downstairs and Clark's love of privacy before handing it over to him to read.

"That's what I want to write," Lois said defiantly. "Not some obnoxious thing about how you've changed but something about how you _haven't_ changed. You've got all that money and power and you're still the same old Smallville that I met back on the farm. Better dressed than that first meeting of course but considering that you didn't have any clothes at all when I met you, that's no surprise."

Predictably, Clark went beet red but he took the notebook and started reading the proto-article over. Lex read over his shoulder, frowning at Lois' terrible handwriting and spelling. She found herself blushing as they slowly worked through it together. Normally she just threw her articles together and turned them in for the editor to fix but having Clark read her ideas about him, personally, while she watched, somehow made her horribly embarrassed. By the end of it she was wishing she'd grabbed a drink or had a cigarette or something to fidget with besides the straps of her purse. It would have helped.

"This… actually isn't that bad," Clark admitted after reading the thing at least four dozen times given how long it took. "I mean, you could do with a bit more historical focus. I'm hardly the first rich or famous person to reject my fame and I think the contrast between me and Kara could be a lot stronger than it is. You just sort of threw it in and didn't do much with it."

"Seriously?" Lois gasped, snatching her notebook out of his hand. She read over the bit with Kara and nodded; adding some tiny scribbled notes to expand that bit. "So I could write it and you might let the paper publish it?"

"Depends on how you write it," Clark admitted with an uncomfortable squirm that made Lex grin into his hair again. "I don't want to have a bunch of articles focusing on me. I get really uncomfortable with that. But focusing on Kara, on the paparazzi, on how fame and fortune affects people with me being just one of the people profiled would be fine. There are lots of ways that fame affects people. It's not all its cracked up to be."

"You could look at current culture," Lex offered thoughtfully. "Or you could go back into history and see how its affected people in the past. The thirties and forties had some really big movie stars who went through almost exactly what Kara and Clark have. Maybe there are patterns there that people would find interesting to read about."

Lois nodded and flipped the page to scribble more notes on that. Lex and Clark offered names of movie stars that were vaguely familiar to Lois, Garbo, Harlow and Grant. She'd have to look them up on the Internet later to see if any of it was relevant. The quick searches she did on her phone were promising and Lois forwarded the links to herself so she wouldn't lose them later. When she looked up, Clark and Lex were gone, talking to Kara who'd arrived with her newest boyfriend or maybe it was her boyfriend from back in Denmark or the Netherlands or wherever it was she'd come from.

"I can't believe you got him to agree to the article," Chloe commented over Lois' shoulder.

"See? I told you it was a great idea," Lois replied in her best smugly overconfident tone of voice. Chloe's rolled eyes gave Lois another point, but she lost it by laughing at the eye roll. "Seriously, I think it'll be a great article. People like hearing about things like that."

"True," Chloe agreed with that little shift of her shoulders that wasn't quite a shrug, "but he's not going to let it sit for long. You better get it done quick."

"Check my spelling before I submit it?" Lois pleaded.

"Lo, that's what spell check is for," Chloe complained.

"That thing is broken," Lois complained. "Come on, it's important. You gotta help me out. I can't just turn it in all mangled. It's gotta be right."

Chloe snorted but eventually gave in to Lois' pleading expression. Lois bounced up to give her cousin a hug that made Chloe laugh. It wasn't the Superman interview that Lois really wanted but it was one step closer. Maybe after she got this one published it would show Superman that she wouldn't write some sensationalist piece of trash on him. Anything that got her closer to that goal was good as far as Lois was concerned.

Besides, people really should know the nice guy hidden behind the riches. Clark Kent might have become a Marcellus but he'd always be Smallville at heart.

+++++

"You want to plan out what work you will be doing in a thousand years?" Cadmus asked. He gaped at Kal instead of folding the laundry he'd been given. "Whatever for? There's time for that when it gets closer, isn't there?"

"There is," Kal said with a nod for Cadmus to get back to work so that Alexa wouldn't get mad if she peeked in. "But I find it helpful to have plans well in advance. I can learn the skills I need to learn, set up systems to ensure that I won't be obvious. The father in future I go, the less obvious I want to be."

Cadmus went back to folding, now with a frown on his face. It was such a joy watching the boy grow past the suspcious and hateful person he had been when Kal was still insane. In the several years that had passed, Kal had regained his sanity and Cadmus had discovered that there was much more to the world than he had thought when he was a lowly slave. Alexa wasn't that fond of the way Kal had nurtured Cadmus' questioning personality but it didn't really matter to him that Alexa found a slave with a mind and the will to ask questions threatening. He wouldn't allow Cadmus to be beaten down into yet another shadow of a human being.

"Why?" Cadmus asked. "I mean, I can understand not wanting to be noticed. You get a lot of notice wherever you go but why would you want to be completely invisible? Blend in so utterly?"

"I have enemies waiting for me," Kal explained. "They're strong and very dangerous. I need to be able to pretend to be something other than what I am if I'm going to be successful in dealing with them. Plus I need to be able to get allies and you know as well as I do that people have two basic modes of reacting to things they don't understand."

"Kill it or run away," Cadmus sighed and nodded.

They finished folding the laundry and put it away. Kal knew that Alexa would probably scold him later for doing chores that he didn't need to. She still thought that he should take it easy and allow everyone to do things for him. Of course, that was why he prefered Cadmus as his personal attendant. Cadmus was just lazy enough that he needed to have Kal there doing things with him to get anything done. It was good for Kal and good for Cadmus, even if it did offend Alexa's sense of propriety.

"Okay," Cadmus said as they headed out into the garden to do some weeding together, "so you're going to need allies, right?"

"Yes," Kal agreed. "Allies that are open and known and a few that are secret, I'm sure. The enemies that I'm going to face are quite dangerous."

"Worse than the Huns?" Cadmus asked.

"Much worse," Kal said. "The Huns are just people who are invading. The ones that I'll be facing want to destroy every single human on Earth. They might leave a few alive to be slaves and breeding stock, but that's it."

Cadmus nodded, carefully weeding one flower bed while Kal trimmed one of the shrubs into a fanciful shape. The other garden slaves left them alone to do their work. Kal had done the design on the revitalized garden so they all knew that whatever Kal was up to was part of the plan. He liked to think that this was going to be quite a lovely garden when he was done, if massively inappropriate to the era. Putting a traditional English garden in ancient Rome was a bit odd but it amused him to do it.

It wasn't as though it would survive all the centuries until the future. Once Kal moved the family on in a few years so that they could escape from the invading Huns it would fall into ruin anyway.

"You can't kill these enemies?" Cadmus asked.

"No, I can't," Kal said as he studied the cloud shape he'd cut into the shrub. "The particular ones that I'm thinking of are… difficult."

"Difficult why?" Cadmus asked. He glared over his shoulder at one of the other slaves who made a little disapproving sound at his so boldly asking questions of his master.

"One is Lex's father," Kal said. He grinned at the way Cadmus' head whipped around. His jaw had dropped open in shock. "Seriously, he is. He's a very bad man who treated his son very poorly, but he's quite rich and powerful. I have to handle him carefully, especially because Lex does still care about his father, despite everything that his father did to him."

Cadmus whistled and shook his head in dismay. They worked for a while in silence as Cadmus absorbed what Kal had said. Kal had learned quite early on to let Cadmus have time to think. If Kal did that then Cadmus always came back with good questions or highly useful suggestions for improving Kal's plans.

He stayed quiet the whole time that they worked on the garden, only asking prosaic questions about which plants went where and how deep they should be buried. Once they were done, they washed up and headed inside for dinner. Alexa gave Kal the expected fond scolding for doing too much. Her husband chuckled at them and their children insisted on playing with Kal before bedtime.

"So," Cadmus said once Kal got back to his rooms, "that's one of the enemies you face. What's the other one like?"

He'd gotten the fire going and set out Kal's notes so that he could work on them. The family accounts were there too, which meant that it was time for Kal to do his monthly accounting work. Cadmus had curled up by the fire while waiting for Kal to come back to the rooms. The low fire's light stained his dark skin ruddy.

"That one is much worse," Kal said, picking up the conversation smoothly from long practice with Cadmus. "It's not a human."

"How…? How can that be possible?" Cadmus asked. "It's a god or a monster?"

"No, you remember how I told you about machines?" Kal said. "That they're going to develop to the point that they can think on their own?"

Cadmus nodded. He watched Kal with an alert expression, even as he shifted around and added more wood to the fire. Kal settled on his couch and leaned forward to warm his hands in front of the fire's heat. The heat didn't really make him that much warmer but it still felt good.

"Sure, it seems kind of silly but you told me about that," Cadmus said.

"Well, this enemy will be a machine thinks so fast and so well that it does it better than me or anyone," Kal said. "It's also change shapes as freely as Proteus, so it can look like anyone. It's as strong as I am, as fast, and actually has fewer weaknesses than I do."

"That's… a very good reason to have insanely detailed plans," Cadmus said with a shudder of horror. "I think I'm glad I won't be alive when it becomes a problem."

Kal grinned at him and had Cadmus come up on the couch with him. Cadmus grinned and did so, looking over Kal's shoulder as he worked through the accounts. He had been teaching Cadmus to read and do math for the last year or so. Alexa didn't realize it yet but eventually Kal would tell her, once he was sure that Cadmus was skilled enough, and determined enough, to earn his own living as a free man.

"You know," Cadmus mused as he settled innext to Kal, "the best thing would be if you could set your enemies against each other somehow. No idea if it would work but it'd certainly make things easier for you."

"That's a very good idea. I'll have to think about that to see if I can make it happen. Now," Kal said, "Where were we last month?"

"Checking to make sure that Efrem wasn't skimming some of the money for wines off and spending it on his personal expenses," Cadmus said instantly. "And I still think he is. He doesn't have the pay to afford that fine cotton robe be bought last week."

"No, but he does have a lover who has access to such things," Kal laughed. "It could be a gift, though I doubt that his lover should have given it to him given that I'm pretty sure it's beyond Efrem's station. Let's see if we can prove your suspicions or mine."

"Yes, sir!"

+++++

"What do the monitors say?" Lionel asked Jor-El.

The latest solar flare had swept over the solar system, past the Earth's orbit, past Mars and out into the asteroid belt. Since his incarceration in the Fortress Lionel had managed to work his way up from probably to be executed prisoner to possibly trusted ally in the battle against the monster that had stolen Lionel's body from him so briefly. It wasn't true freedom but Lionel would take what he could get.

"Testing systems currently," Jor-El said.

Lionel waited, adjusting the monitors that allowed him to see anything in the solar system. The satellites that they'd stationed around Brainiac's ship were sparking in the darkness of space as the solar radiation shorted out their circuitry despite the protective shielding. He would have to warn Kal-El about the failure before they launched the next set of satellites. Obviously, their current designs were insufficient for repeated solar flares over the course of several years.

"They failed briefly, didn't they?" Lionel said as the seconds ticked by.

"It appears so," Jor-El sighed, the words continuing just a hint of frustrated static rather than the inflections of a human voice. Fortunately, Lionel had learned to read the AI's moods and the incredibly subtle ways it expressed its emotions. "I am detecting signs of Brainiac rebooting."

"Notify Kal-El," Lionel asked.

He was very careful not to make the words into an order, however much he might want to. Even with his increased freedom, he was quite aware that he was nothing more than a prisoner in Kal-El's Fortress.

"Message sent," Jor-El said. "Report to your station immediately."

"On my way," Lionel said.

The cell that he had been consigned to was no longer his only place. As he'd proven himself to be trustworth, Kal-El had allowed him access to other areas of the Fortress. He could go to the kitchen area now, and the gym. There was a garden full of bizarre plants that he was sometimes allowed to walk through and the library was his reward when he did things especially well.

None of those were where Lionel ran. The central area of the Fortress was intimidating in ways that the rest of it could only imitate. The huge crystals that made up the walls towered over Lionel's head here. By the time he reached the control panel it was already lit from within. Lionel took a deep breath and rested his hands on the two controls that he could interact with.

"Ready," Lionel said in as firm a tone of voice as he could manage. No matter how many times he did this it made his stomach clench with fear.

"Interfacing now," Jor-El said.

Lionel forced himself to keep his hands on the control crystals as Jor-El slid into his mind. It wasn't the same as when Zod had taken over his body. When Jor-El took him it was far more gentle, a sharing rather than a rape. He still hated it but it was necessary. Not only to regain his freedom but also to protect the world against Brainaic's threat. As Jor-El slid into Lionel's mind, Lionel's slid into the control system. This, more than anything else, was why he cooperated with his captor.

He could see everything. Lex, Clark, the League and their little battles were all there in his mind. Further out he could see the satellites orbiting the Earth like man-made dust filling the vacuum surround Earth's delicate pocket of air. Rather than focus on Earth (and his continuous failures to locate Kal-El when he wasn't at the Fortress), Lionel pushed his mind out to the asteroid belt and the system of satellites containing Brainiac.

They were clearly malfunctioning. The solar radiation had penetrated their shielding, shutting down key systems that kept Brainiac from waking. Lionel nodded once and set to work using the combined resources of the Fortress, the satellites and the well-hidden Kryptonian outposts spread throughout the solar system.

"He's definitely waking," Lionel said to Jor-El. "I can see his systems rebooting."

"Agreed," Jor-El said. "Reinitilizing satellites."

"We're not going to make it before he wakes," Lionel growled. "He's waking far too quickly."

As Lionel said it, the Black Ship woke entirely. Through the Fortress' sensors Lionel could see Brainiac quickly running through system analysis and start up routines. While Jor-El got the satellites working, Lionel considered and then decided to do something entirely human to hopefully throw Brainiac off.

"Well, good morning," Lionel drawled at Brainiac, using the communication systems to ensure that Brainiac heard him.

"You are not Kal-El," Brainiac said. His voice held a hostile tenor to it that reminded Lionel of Kal-El early on in his captivity. "Identify yourself."

"Why in the world would I do that?" Lionel chuckled.

He could feel Brainiac's sensors scanning the area to locate him. That made Lionel laugh his most derisive laugh, the one that always made Lex snarl and act stupidly. Rather than prompting Brainiac to do something stupid, it made him hesitate. The engines that had been powering up didn't engage. Instead Brainiac sat there, scanning more intensely.

"You won't find me that way," Lionel said and smirked. He liked to think that the smirk carried into his tone of voice.

"What are you… No!" Brainiac's engines suddenly engaged as the satellites that composed his prison reactivated. "No!"

"Good night," Lionel said.

He triggered several of the hidden Kryptonian outposts, one on Titan, another on Mars and a third within the asteroid belt itself. They sent out waves of energy specifically designed to shut Brainiac down. That combined with the renewed function of Kal-El's satellites forced a complete shutdown on Brainiac.

"Monitoring," Jor-El murmured as the seconds ticked by.

"Let it work," Lionel breathed.

If Brainiac rebooted, if he woke up, then they were going to have to work much harder to stop him. Given the extreme speed at which he learned, it would be difficult to shut him down again. Five full minutes passed before Jor-El and Lionel agreed that they'd stopped Brainiac's return. Jor-El slowly slid out of Lionel's mind, returning him to his body.

"Easy," Kal-El said as he caught Lionel under his arms.

"Wh-when did you get here?" Lionel asked. His legs were shaking. His stomach was in knots. Worse yet, his head felt like it was about to explode.

"Very shortly after you interfaced with the system," Kal-El said far too calmly. "That was quite well done. You've improved."

He picked Lionel up as if he was a little boy and carried him back to his cell. Lionel bit down on the urge to curse at Kal-El. The last thing he wanted was to be treated like a child or a weakling. Still, it was highly unlikely that he would have been able to make it back to his bed in the cell, no matter how it hurt his pride.

Kal-El covered him up with one of the pale lavender blankets that he'd been given and left. Once he exited the cell the doorway hummed for a moment as the forcefield established itself. Lionel sighed. Once again, he was the prisoner but at least he managed to keep Brainiac from breaking loose from his prison and attacking the Earth.

And someday, unlike Brainiac, Lionel would escape his prison and return to his proper place in life.

+++++

"What do we have?" Oliver asked as he strode into the Watchtower's communications room.

"An unknown alien ship on approach," Batman said as he worked the controls.

"It's Thanagarian," J'onn commented as he came in with Clark. Behind them Diana, Dinah and Bart were chatting about something, probably lunch given the enthusiastic expression on Bart's face.

"Hmm, surprised," Clark murmured as he took up a spot just to the left of Oliver. "I didn't think that they'd come here. Last I heard they considered Earth too barbaric to be bothered with."

Oliver glared at Clark, getting an sheepish grin and shrug from him. He sighed and turned back to the monitors. The ship looked vaguely avian, hawk like in a way that made Oliver uncomfortable. It also looked very well armed with what Oliver would swear were gun ports in many places on its hull.

Batman grunted and nodded to the others as he established a channel with the Thanagarian ship. The man who answered their hail looked to be nearly as wide in the shoulders as Batman or Superman. He had a square jaw and sandy hair that was swept back from a stern brow. Oliver frowned as the man raised his chin imperiously.

"I am Katar Hol," he declared. "My partner Shayera Thal and I are seeking an escaped criminal named Byth who has fled to your world. We demand that he be turned over to us immediately."

"As far as I'm aware," Batman said in his growliest voice, which meant that he was as offended by Katar's attitude as Oliver was, "We don't have someone by the name of Byth in custody."

"Then we will go to your primitive world and capture him ourselves," Katar said. "Stay out of our way and you will not be harmed. Block us and we will eliminate you."

Oliver opened his mouth to object but Clark put his hand on Oliver's shoulder, patting it gently. He stepped forward. As he stepped into the camera's view he did something with his posture that transformed him from Superman into someone much more impressive. Curses ghosted over Oliver's lips as Clark suddenly became the Historian, the one Kryptonian that Oliver had never been able to trust, not that he'd had much of an opportunity to interact with the Historian in the last ten years.

"Katar Hol," Clark said in the deeper tones that had marked Oliver's few interactions with the Historian, "I am Kal-El, the Kryptonian Historian. I request that you change your approach vector to follow this path. There is an enemy imprisoned in the asteroid belt that your ship may free. We can discuss the capture of your criminal like civilized beings once you arrive."

Clark reached over Bruce's shoulder to tap something into the keyboard, sending it off to Katar. Katar's eyes went wide and he abruptly dropped the arrogant mannerisms that had annoyed Oliver. He nodded and looked down as he changed course. A woman poked her head into the camera's view, staring at Clark with awe.

"My apologies," Katar said much more respectfully. "I was not aware that there were any Kryptonians still alive."

"I'm always here," Clark chuckled. The laugh was a little bit sad and wry. "You are on approach vector to our station. As I said, we can discuss the situation once you get here, in… ah, about half an hour. Welcome to Terra. I look forward to talking to you."

"Thank you," Katar said. "We will speak soon."

Clark cut the connection and sighed before sitting on the edge of the control console. Batman was glaring at him as if he wanted to dissect Clark. Oliver felt much the same way. The others were staring at him with varying degrees of shock and surprise, other than Diana who seemed mildly curious but nothing more.

"Historian?" Oliver asked. "You're the Historian? What the hell happened to Clark?"

"Nothing," Clark said with another of those wry smiles. "It's kind of a long story. I'm the end result of a time loop."

"How do we fix it?" Batman asked.

"There's nothing to fix," Clark said. "If you try and 'fix' it you'll mess up history."

"Perhaps you can explain in some detail?" Diana asked. "We do have a bit of time before our… guests arrive."

Clark nodded at her request. He looked at the others, studied Batman's dark glower and then turned to look straight at Oliver. The sad, regretful expression on Clark's face made Oliver fidget. It made him wonder exactly what was in this story of Clark's, what had happened. Worse still, it made him wonder if he was why Clark had been keeping it a secret.

"Well, when I was younger, still in high school," Clark began, "the AI in the Fortress was insane. It wanted me to take over the world and rule as its conqueror. I didn't want to so I argued with it a lot."

He explained about going off to training for a year and then destroyed Oliver's understanding of the universe by calmly saying that he'd been sent back in time by his father, all the way back to the early Roman era. Oliver's head spun as Clark explained how he'd lived his way back to the current era, earning the title of 'Historian' by virtue of living so long. J'onn confirmed that Clark had been the one who helped him survive and adapt on Earth. Batman went rigid when Clark said that he'd been Antonio and David Marcellus, which made Oliver wonder if they'd met in their secret identities. So far Batman had flatly refused to tell them his secret identity though Oliver had some private speculations that he hadn't confirmed yet. Batman had only joined the League recently, after Clark talked him into it for Gotham's sake.

"So, once I lived back to the point where my younger self got sent into the past," Clark explained, "I returned to the Fortress, removed Jor-El from the computers and debugged him. Unfortunately that freed Brainiac, which led to the whole confrontation where you guys saw me as the Historian the first time. I wasn't ready for Brainiac yet so I couldn't reveal that I was the Historian."

"You are now?" Batman asked.

"I think so," Clark said with a quietly confident smile. "My plans should work well enough. If we can make friends with Katar Hol and Shayera Thal then I know I'll be able to deal with him at alst. Their technology interfaces well with Kryptonian technology. It should give me the last key that I need to deal with Brainiac and shut him down for good."

Oliver opened his mouth to say something, he had no clue what, but nothing came out. The others were chatting about the revelation as if it weren't too surprising. To Oliver it was enough to make him doubt everything that he'd believed all this time. They'd been fighting together for nearly a decade now. He'd thought that he knew Clark better than this.

"Oliver," Clark murmured as the others left the room to go greet Katar and Shayera.

"You… lied," Oliver whispered much more harshly than he'd intended at Clark.

"I know," Clark sighed. He looked guilty about it. "I'm sorry. It's just that I've learned over the centuries who can handle learning all at once and who can't. You saw the Historian as such a threat. I needed to give you time to see that there wasn't a threat before I could reveal myself."

Oliver snorted, looking out the door to where Batman was glaring at the two of them. He jerked his chin at Batman and raised an eyebrow. Clark started laughing and shrugged.

"He suspects everyone all the time," Clark said with an amused grin. "Nothing's going to change that. Come on. There's an alien criminal free on Earth and possible allies docking with the station."

"Time to save the world again?" Oliver asked, amused in spite of his shock.

"Exactly."

Oliver took a deep breath and did his best to shake off the shock and dismay. He'd known Clark for over a decade now and worked with him on a daily basis. He might not like having been lied to for so long but as they headed off to the airlock, Oliver realized that Clark had been feeding him pieces of the truth all along. From that very first meeting where Clark and J'onn had chatted in Kryptonian, the clues had been there for Oliver to see.

He was the one who'd failed to pick up on them.

'Just have to do better job paying attention in the future,' Oliver thought as Katar and Shayera stalked out of the airlock to greet Clark and the others. He certainly couldn't do a worse job, after all.

+++++

"Didn't set him free?" Lex asked once they were done with the first round and lay panting together on the bed.

"Nope," Kal said. "From what Jor-El reported Brainiac didn't even stir when Katar and Shayera cut through his area. The latest set of controls worked perfectly."

He was still purring from the sex and panting as if he were as exhausted as Lex. After a decade together, Lex still enjoyed the times that he managed to wear Kal out. It was very good for his ego, though not so good for his knees and back. Kal sighed and rolled over to put his head on Lex's shoulder. Lex ran his fingers over Kal's back, smiling at the faint sheen of sweat he felt there.

"I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop," Lex commented once their breath slowed down.

"Mmm?" Kal sounded sleepy, as if he was only partly awake.

"I spent most of my life fighting," Lex mused. "You know. You listened. Fought with my father, fought at school, fought once I began working. Everything was a battle. But since you the battles have seemed… I don't know, less significant?"

"No, it's that you know you can't lose when we're together," Kal murmured.

He chuckled when Lex pulled back a little to stare down at him. From the look on Kal's face he was on the verge of laughing out loud. Lex rolled Kal on his back so that they could look at each other more easily. Kal went easily, another thing that always stunned him when it happened. The world's strongest man was an easy pushover for Lex.

"You are so good for my ego," Lex chuckled. Kal blinked, clearly confused. "Never mind. So we can't lose when we're together?"

"No, we can't," Kal said. His expression shifted to calm and confident. "We truly can't, Lex. No matter what the universe throws at us, I know that together we can deal with it. Your intelligence combines perfectly with my experience and abilities, and both of us have the drive to deal with whatever comes our way. Together we can handle everything that comes at us."

Lex leaned over and brushed his lips over Kal's nipple. The flow of words faltered as Kal started purring again. Kal was right, of course, but that didn't mean that he completely agreed with Kal. There would be serious battles eventually. All Lex could do was hope that together they'd manage to deal with them so that neither of them were harmed.

He sucked on Kal's nipple, flicking it with the tip of his tongue. Kal's entire body jerked as if a lightning bolt had hit him. Lex did it again, enjoying getting Kal to respond so strongly. As he teased Kal, both of their cocks filled again. Rather than immediately sliding between Kal's legs, Lex took his time licking and nipping his body. There were so many spots on Kal's body that turned him on. It took a long time to seek them all out and give them the attention that they deserved.

By the time Lex was nuzzling Kal's calf and licking up to his knee, Kal was gasping and moaning with his pupils blown so wide that his eyes looked black. Lex took his time kissing and licking his way back to Kal's groin. He chuckled at the way Kal nearly melted through the mattress when Lex settled between his legs.

"You are so beautiful," Lex murmured as he slowly pushed into Kal.

"Lex…!" Kal whimpered.

He pulled Lex down and kissed him so desperately that Lex groaned into his mouth. It was no surprise when they floated up off of the bed a few moments later. Lex rotated them until Kal was sitting astride his hips. Kal shuddered and let his head drop forward so that his hair covered his eyes. Shivers danced over Kal's body as he started to move on Lex's cock, keeping them both in the air with his powers.

"That's it," Lex murmured. He started stroking Kal's cock, giving it the attention it deserved. "Take what you want. Take what I'm giving you, love."

"Lex," Kal whispered.

He shifted and leaned forwards to wrap his arms around Lex's shoulders. Lex let himself be shifted into a sitting position. It was oddly as if they were having sex in zero g, which they'd done a couple of times over the last decade, and yet not at all like that. In zero g there was no traction and it was only their grip on each other that kept them together. Right now, Lex could feel something holding them together, the gentle-firm grip of Kal's flight powers keeping them in place even as Kal sped up and started fucking himself harder on Lex's cock.

After so much teasing, Lex knew that neither of them were going to last terribly long. Lex dug his nails into the curve of Kal's ass, encouraging him to go harder and faster. Kal cried out and flung his head back, transfixed and panting as if he were the mere mortal, not Lex. He was the most beautiful thing that Lex had ever seen.

"Mine," Lex panted as his orgasm pounded against his self-control the same way that Kal was pounding against his cock.

"Yes!" Kal shouted. "Yours, always yours! Lex!"

Kal came, wetting Lex's chest and stomach with his release. He clamped down hard on Lex, still grinding against Lex as he came. Lex grunted and shoved hard at Kal's hips, getting three good plunges before he let go and filled Kal up again. Lex's groan of pleasure made Kal's eyes flutter open. He looked at Lex and bit his lip as if he couldn't believe that he was here, that they were together and doing this.

They slowly drifted back down to the bed, Kal draped over the top of Lex's chest. Neither of them pulled apart after Lex's erection went down and slipped out. Eventually Kal reached off the side of the bed and found the washcloth they'd used earlier so that they could clean up a little bit. Lex let Kal take care of it and then pulled him back into his arms.

"Love you so much," Lex murmured into Kal's ear.

"Love you too," Kal whispered as the purr started up again.

"How much time do we have?" Lex asked a couple of minutes later. He had to assume that there would be an emergency somewhere. There always was.

Kal chuckled and kissed the side of Lex's neck. "Forever, Lex. We have forever together."

Lex laughed and hugged his lover, husband and best friend. Not quite what he'd meant but the warm glow the words made well up in his chest made him unwilling to clarify his meaning. They snuggled in together and watched as the light from the window slowly changed from evening to sunset to dusk.

"Forever is a glorious thing when I've got you by my side."

The End


End file.
